I Came to Play
by Aristotle29
Summary: My clan was murdered by an unknown man. This man left me alive, why? Only he knows, but I will find him and he will pay. The mission I have been assigned has given me the opportunity to find this man and to make him pay. Being an ANBU had its perks, but it also has it's faults. T for swearing and some battle situations that may occur. R&R&F please! -
1. The mission

**A/N: **Anyone else hate insomnia? I do! It is … 4:30 am right now and I am not tired in the least. I guess it's okay since I have written another story … sort of, but anywho, I have officially taken down Merely a Mirage. Why? It was discontinued and I didn't like having a un-finished story up. Now this story is a remake … of sorts … of Merely a Mirage. But this time it's less depressing! Yay, I don't like depressing … I just like dark colors! They are calming to me for some reason and I am blabbering! Gomen. Okay, so here is the deal. I know that I am writing another story write now, but this story came to me while I was thinking of what to do with my other one and I liked it! So yeah … this story isn't at all like Merely a Mirage really, but it shall take its place! I hope it's okay. The grammar may suck horribly, but it is 4:30 in the morning … sue me … Actually, please don't! I don't want to get sued! But, I hope it's okay! R&R&F please! Arigatou!

**Disclaimer: **F*** off! I don't own Naruto … sorry that was mean… ^-^

"_Run away if you see me. Don't even say my name. Don't think that you know me. Don't try to play that game." – You all will find out at the end of the story. ^-^ _

A bed, a dresser, a desk, a bathroom, a window, a nightstand, and an exit are what I woke up to. I had made my room like that because of the plainness, the simplicity, and the space. I had re-done my whole room so everyone knew whose room it was. The bed sheets were black and red, the rug was red, the walls were black, and all my furniture was wood. I like the darker colors because of what it symbolized to me. Most people expect me to say death, to say hatred, to say misery, to say blood, and to say pain. I do not see what they see. I see the peace in the black, I see the life in the red, I see the warmth in the cold, and I see the numbness in the pain. I look at the world differently than others in many ways, but in most ways, the world and I see eye to eye. There is war brought upon by hatred, quarrels brought upon disagreements, the peace brought upon by love, and the death brought upon life. I am not a depressed person nor am I a pessimist. I only see what others do not. I see through the façade. Sometimes, yes, I do get caught up in what others want me to see, but most of the time I can surpass it. I am and ANBU. I kill who I am told to kill because my Kage says so. Do I mind? Maybe, but it is my duty. I do what I can to protect the people who live in the same village I do and to protect myself. Selfish? Maybe, but I do not care. I am not only a weapon, I am a person. Most people get that about shinobi, but there are those who do not think so. I do not get it; I don't get how people can be so heartless, so cruel, and so insufferable. I do not show emotion in the field while I am on a mission, but any good shinobi should do that. Being emotionless in the field is a skill that most cannot possess, but there are a certain few who can; I just happen to be able to because of my past. I have not nor will I ever stay in the past, my past is mostly forgotten, but there are some things that a person cannot rid from their memories. Seeing one's parents and clan die is hard and is something that cannot be forgotten, but seeing it made me stronger, who I am today.

I got out of my bed and took a quick shower. Once I was done and dried off. I put on my outfit. I had knee-high boots, a black skirt with the rims red and spandex underneath, a red shirt with a black crow on the back, a black, sleeveless cloak, my katana, my hitai-ate that went around my left arm, a red tie that went around my right arm to signify that I was ANBU that was below my black feather tattoo, and then there was my mask. My mask was black with red swirls and was a crow. My family's symbol was a crow. Once I was dressed, I looked into the mirror. I put my black hair into a high ponytail and saw my bright blue eyes in the mirror. I concentrated my chakra for a moment to my eyes and saw what every enemy feared. My kekkei genkai. My clan had always had the kekkei genkai, but only a few, talented shinobi could get their eyes to become black. Kuromerugan is my kekkei genkai. The Kuromerugan allows me to copy any jutsu besides other kekkei genkais, it also lets me know when there is a genjutsu around; I can't see through all of them, but most of them I can. Lastly, it allows me to see what my enemy's next moves are. It's like a movie in my eyes and it's perfect quality. I had fully mastered the Kuromerugan when I was ten years old by learning from myself. Of course others helped, but I liked to be by myself; not because was depressed all the time, but because it was easier for me to concentrate. My clan had always liked to do things themselves so they could be proud of themselves when they accomplished things. Now, it's only me. I am the last of my clan, the Karasu clan.

I, Mika Yomi, am an ANBU from the Mist village and I am sixteen years old, the last living person in the Karasu clan because someone decided to massacre my clan, to kill everyone they saw. I was spared. Why? Only the person who spared me knows. Would I figure out why I was spared? Hell yes. Even if I died trying.

Once I was done getting ready, I left my room and walked out into the halls the Mizukage's building. Once the Karasu clan was destroyed, she gave me a hand and let me stay in her building. I was very thankful and showed her so by training harder than anyone. My clan was massacred when I was eight years old and I had not yet mastered the Kuromerugan, thus rendering me useless. I tried though, kami, I tried. I fought until I couldn't see straight, until I was almost unconscious. But I was weak then, now I am not. I have been patient, willing myself not to go after who was responsible for my clan's massacre; I became stronger and stronger until I could not be any stronger, but now was the time. I would find out why I was spared and I would get revenge for my clan. And it would be slow and painful. I smirked at the thought of finally getting justice, but I was brought out of my thoughts by another ANBU walking toward me with a smile. I raised my eyebrow.

"I was looking for you Mika! What took you so long?" Takeo, one of my members on my ANBU team, asked me.

"A girl needs time to get ready. You should know this by now! How long have we been working together?" I asked walking with him toward the Mizukage's office.

"For about four years now … and yeah, yeah, I know! Anywho, the Mizukage would like to see us in her office."

"Really? She didn't mention a mission. Hmm … wonder why she hasn't told us?" I asked off –handily. Takeo shrugged as we decided to puff into the Mizukage's office instead of walk there. As soon as we puffed into her office, I noticed the other member of my team, for I was the captain and the youngest one. Takeo was twenty-two, and Nao, who was also twenty-two. Even though I was the only girl on the team, we worked well together. Nao had his ANBU uniform on and so did Takeo. I always wore mine just in case, but Nao and Takeo liked to be casual; them being all dressed up meant only one thing. We had a mission.

"I am glad you could make it Mika." Katsumi, the Mizukage, said smirking. Katsumi was always like a mother to me; she was a great Mizukage that tried to keep the war out and to keep the happiness in.

"What's up, Katsumi-sama?" I asked. She sighed and gave us each a scroll. I raised an eyebrow.

"The Akatsuki are up to no good again. They have been sighted by Konoha and they seem to be causing trouble. Since we have a new treaty between us, I made the decision to send reinforcements to lend them a hand." She said sipping her Chai tea. The Akatsuki … they only meant trouble. I glared at the scroll and Katsumi saw.

"Mika, don't go doing anything rash. We all hate them and wish they were captured. Now, you three will be working with one of Konoha's best ANBU team. They will meet you three at the northern gate and will give you all more details about what is going on there. Any questions?" She asked us.

"Why do we need to go to Konoha if they have good ANBU?" I asked. She nodded in understanding.

"Since we have had … issues in the past, I thought it would be a good opportunity to ease the tension between us." I nodded. Going to Konoha would be good for me, not only to be helpful, but also for my personal reasons. I smirked. It was perfect.

"How many Akatsuki have been spotted?" Takeo asked.

"At the moment, only two. We think that they are scouts and later the rest will come, but Tsunade-sama and I are not sure."

"Are you sure you aren't just sending us to Konoha to get your saki back?" Nao asked with a smirk. I smiled; Nao always knew how to make a situation less work – related. Katsumi glared.

"No! What in the world gave you that idea?" She asked standing up. As nice as Katsumi was, she could give one hell of a kick! Nao smirked and gave his scroll back.

"You gave me a letter to Tsunade-sama instead of the mission explaining how if you didn't get your saki back, you would go and get it yourself." He said with a smirk. Katsumi looked like she was about to blow up on Nao, so I stepped in.

"We should get going, it's a two day trip and we want to get there before anything happens." I said standing, making Katsumi stop her rampage. She nodded.

"Very well. Be careful you three and come back in one piece. Nao and Takeo, wait in the hallway while I talk to Mika here." They nodded and left, but not without giving me a look of 'have fun'. I glared, but then smiled. They were such guys.

"Mika, I need to know if you are ready for this. I can always-"

"I am ready. I have spent plenty of time waiting and gaining strength. I do not need to be held back." She sighed.

"I am not worried about your physical condition; I am worried about your mental condition. We still can't be sure who did it. All we know is the general location where the shinobi came from. You cannot and will not kill innocents." Katsumi said to me as she took another sip of her tea. I glared; she actually thought I was going to kill innocents?

"I will do no such thing. I will make sure that when I kill him, he is the right person." I said as I stood up to leave.

"Okay, but be careful." I nodded and left the office. Yes, I did not know who exactly killed my parents, but I had a general location of where he was. And I was heading my way there now. I smirked and Nao and Takeo looked at me like I was crazy.

"What did she want?" Nao asked.

"She told me not to overreact. I told her I would do no such thing." They both nodded and then we went our separate ways to pack out stuff. This was going to be an interesting mission, I could feel it.

* * *

Hmm ... I wonder who killed her clan? I wonder what the Akatsuki want? I wonder if you all like this story or not? ^-^ Wow, I am tired ... yet, I cannot sleep ... great, and I am dancing for a while today. That shall be fun, anywho, how was it? Good? Bad? Not as depressing? Okay, yeah, the whole massacre thing is sad, but it's not like everything is sad in this story and besides, Mika needed something to drive her! R&R&F please! ^-^


	2. Snap crackel pop

**A/N: **Yeah … I am so sorry readers. I accidentally skipped a chapter … hehe … yeah, it was late and I didn't realize it until I reread through the story I had so far. Soo … I am fixing it now! Sorry! You guys didn't really miss much … besides some important background info and stuff. But, anywho, please enjoy! R&R&F please!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto … if you think I do … you need serious help! ^-^

"_Every day that I get better, I watch as you get worse. My script is too the letter and I'll write you final verse." – Keep reading to find out! ^-^_

"I love missions, but the run to our destination is always so fucking long!" Nao said as we continued our way to Konoha. I laughed. Nao was always the lazy one.

"You are ANBU for kami's sake. Deal with it." Takeo said. Nao glared, but stopped complaining.

"Why do you think the Akatsuki are showing their faces now? Nothing is going on anywhere, so they have no reason to." Takeo said. I would have agreed if Katsumi hadn't said something before she told us to go.

"Wrong. The Mizukage said that we just signed a treaty with Konoha. Maybe they want to make it so we are enemies or something. I don't know, they are Akatsuki and they don't need a reason to show their faces." I said. Takeo nodded in agreement.

We continued our way to Konoha, but at dusk we set up camp. I had the first watch and after we ate, Nao and Takeo went to sleep. We were only a day away from Konoha, but we still didn't want to chance anything. The Akatsuki could be anywhere. I looked up at the stars; it was a clear night and there were no clouds in sight. The stars looked like eyes looking down at you, searching for something, for answers. I looked around and didn't see anything, so I started to stare off into space. I began to think about the night when my clan was massacred.

_I remembered training in the field that was near my house, in my clan's compound. I trained for about two hours before it was so dark that I could barely see. I started to walk home, but then I saw the fire start. It was small, but it was enough to know something was not right. I started to sprint to my house; I passed my family's houses that were engulfed in fire. I knew they escaped, so I didn't stop until I got to my house. I stopped about thirty yards from the house because of what I saw. My family was on their knees in front of a small group of people. I couldn't see who was in front of me because their backs were facing me. I saw my mom and dad talking, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I saw my grandma, my grandpa, my cousins, and my aunts and my uncles. I didn't know what to do. I wasn't strong enough to take on the small group in front of me since my family couldn't even take them out. I was useless. Then I felt someone behind me. I turned around to see nothing. I looked, but it was dark and I had not mastered the Kuromerugan yet. So I decided to turn around, but when I did, there was a kunai on my neck and a person behind me._

"_Walk." Was all he said. I started to shake a little, but I walked. My family saw me and their eyes widened. The people who were in front of my family turned to see me._

"_Where did you find her?" One of them asked._

"_Thirty yards to the left." The one who asked the question walked toward me. I had had enough. I was scared for my life and my family's life; I put my elbow in the man's stomach behind me and I heard a grunt. I grabbed the kunai and puffed behind the man that was in front of me. I thought he would give up or something, but I just heard a small laugh. Huh?_

"_I can't believe a little girl hit you." The man said in front of me to the man I elbowed. Then the man I had the kunai against puffed. I looked around and saw the other man that had yet to talk, watch my family. I started to go for him, but I was stopped by the two men. _

"_W … what do you want?" I asked backing up a little._

"_You don't know what is going on?" One asked me. I shook my head._

"_It looks like she doesn't even know about the attack on the Mist." My eyes grew wide. I thought it was just an attack on my clan. I turned to run, but one man grabbed my arm and held me. I tried to get away, but it was no use. _

"_Enough, stop struggling or I will kill you." I stopped at the word kill and he took me in front of my family._

"_I am sorry honey! You shouldn't have come." My mother told me._

"_Why would I not come home for dinner?" I said smiling a sad smile._

"_Enough. We have to finish this now while the Mist is busy." The man who had yet said anything said to the men holding me. They nodded and one of the men let me go and walked toward my family and took out his katana._

"_No!" I screamed and tried to help my family, but the man holding me wouldn't let me go. I saw the two men raise their katana, but I couldn't look away._

"_Close your eyes." The man holding me said. Why would he care about whether I saw my clan's death or not? Once he realized I wasn't going to listen to him, he hit my pressure point and I fell on the ground, unconsciousness taking me over. My eyes closed as I heard the blood hit the ground, the fire burning my family's houses, and the man walking passed me. I grabbed his foot weakly, but he stopped and looked down at me._

"_Why?" I asked slipping fast. He looked calm and emotionless, like a true shinobi should be in battle, but his eyes told another story. His eyes were full of regret. I didn't know whether he regretted not killing me or regretting having to kill my family. The only thing I knew as I closed my eyes was that I was going to find whoever they were and kill them. _

I snapped out of my thoughts as I heard a twig snap. I stood up and headed toward the sound with my katana drawn. I made sure that I hid my chakra and I walked slowly so I wouldn't give away where I was. I jumped down and put my katana against the person's throat and he stopped moving.

"Who are you?" Then I felt the person … relax?

"Mika, it's me, Nao." I dropped my katana and pushed him against the tree.

"What the hell are you thinking? You gave me a heart attack!" I said punching him softly. He smiled.

"Sorry, but nature was calling." I grimaced and turned around to leave.

"Too much information. Just make sure you tell me before you go off and start making swigs snap." I said, but what he said next concerned me.

"I didn't break any twig."

I turned around. He felt what I felt. Chakra signatures. Two of them and they were heading toward Takeo. Nao and I took off. We were about two minutes away, so I hoped we would make it. Takeo was a good shinobi … when he wasn't sleeping. He slept like a log.

Nao and I broke through the clearing to see Takeo standing, but okay.

"What happened?" He asked a little loopy. I sensed the chakra signatures leaving and I put away my katana. I looked at Nao and he was still tense.

"We felt two chakra signatures and they were heading toward you and feared the worse." I said sitting down again. Takeo nodded and sat down too, next to Nao.

"We have problem. They were heading toward Konoha. It will be dark for another four hours and we don't know if they are going to attack or not." I said. They nodded.

"I don't think that the Akatsuki will attack yet. It seems too early for them to attack. They like to show their faces, disappear for a few weeks and then attack. I think we still have a week left, maybe more if we are lucky." Nao said. He might be right, but I didn't want to take any chances.

"Takeo, you can this shift and wake us in two hours. We will make our way toward Konoha while it's dark." They nodded.

"I hate when we travel during night." Nao started again. I glared and he smirked. He knew he was annoying and he liked it. I zoned him out as I started to fall asleep.

* * *

I know it was a short chapter, but the information was important and I am sorry for messing up the chapters! R&R&F Please! ^-^


	3. Hello Trouble!

**A/N: **Wanna guess what time it is? About 1:40 am … not bad for me! Anywho, I hope the first chapter was okay! And I hope this chapter is okay too! Um … yeah, I hope it's okay and I hope that you guys like it! RI&R&F please! I would really like to know what you guys think about it! I am sorry for any grammar issues, it is late and I don't want to go back through it because I am tired. Gomen. Anywho, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: ***Feels like being Hidan for a moment* Who the hell do you fucking think I fucking am? Jashin? Well I am fucking not that god damn bastard! I fucking don't own fucking Naruto … wow … that was the most swearing I have ever done …

"I am here to stay and I have come to play. I came to play. There is a price to pay. Time for you to get down on your knees and pray, I came to play." – Yup …

I woke up to Takeo shaking me. I nodded at him and he went to wake up Nao. I put my sleeping supplies in my scroll and helped clean up camp. Nao and Takeo also helped, which made the task shorter. Once we were done cleaning up and getting everything together, we sat in the middle of the clearing to talk about what we were going to do.

"We don't know when the Akatsuki are going to attack, so what are we going to do in the mean time?" Nao asked.

"Takeo, since you are good at strategies, you will work with Konoha and come up with security and plans we can use. Nao, since you are good at fighting, I think you should work with Konoha's shinobi and show them our type of fighting since we do things a bit differently." I said. They nodded.

"What about you?" Takeo asked. I smirked. I was going to help, yes, but on my off time I would research that night and find out who killed my clan.

"I will work with the other ANBU and set up traps and resources in the field. We will meet at dinner and discuss what we have done and share any new information that we have gathered. But if there is an important message or anything, contact me with one of my crows. Here, take these." I said giving them each one of my scrolls so they could summon my crows and send information to me. They nodded and we stood up. I put my mask on and they did too.

"Let's go." Then we started to run toward Konoha. It took us about an hour before we saw the gates with three ANBU waiting. They sensed us before they saw us and turned around. My team stopped in front of them.

"Thank you guys for coming. Please follow us." We nodded and we headed toward the Hokage's office. As we were heading toward the office, I took a look at my surroundings. The village was pretty big and had multiple access points that the Akatsuki could get to. We had a lot of work to do to keep Konoha safe.

We went inside the Hokage's building and started up the stairs. As we were heading up the stairs, I looked at the three ANBU that were in front of me. They all looked the same height and they all seemed to be guys, but appearances could be deceiving. I, myself, looked like a guy, but that's what I wanted people to think, so they could underestimate me and I could advance on them. I was pulled out of my thoughts buy a knocking from one of the ANBU in front of me.

"Come in!" I heard the Hokage say. I smiled behind my mask. She sounded like the Mizukage. We walked in and my team and I stayed in front of the Hokage as the other three ANBU went our right and looked at us and the Hokage. The Hokage was reading a scroll, but then she looked up.

"Thank you for coming. We would rather be safer than sorry when the time comes. Since we signed the treaty with the Mist, the Mizukage and I think that this is a great way to show our alliance toward each other." My team and I nodded and bowed slightly to show respect.

"Now, who is the captain?" I stepped forward. And she nodded.

"Okay, now since all of you will be working closely together for a while, take off your masks and introduce yourselves. You too Uchihas!" She said to us and the three ANBU next to us. Takeo took his off first, then Nao, and then the other ANBU did. I was last, but not on purpose. I was busy observing our allies. I knew who the Uchihas where. They were very skillful and powerful. They also possessed the Sharingan. It was like my Kuromerugan, but a little better. Once I took off my mask, I looked at the Hokage. She smiled at me.

"Well, this is a surprise. Katsumi didn't tell me there was a strong kunoichi coming. Alright, introduce yourselves! Uchihas, you go first." She said leaning back in her chair. My team and I looked to our right and waited.

"I am Uchiha Shisui." One of them said. He seemed like an okay guy.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke." He seemed to be my age, 16.

"I am Uchiha Itachi." He seemed … indifferent and I was indifferent toward him. Then the Hokage looked over at my team.

"I am Kurosawa Nao."

"I am Tsukino Takeo."

"I am Yomi Mika." We all bowed at each other and then looked at the Hokage again. But I caught a look that Shisui and Itachi shared after hearing my name. I didn't know what it meant, but I was going to find out afterwards.

"Good. I and Tsunade, as you may already know from Katsumi. Now, back to business; on your way here, did you guys come across any activity?" Since I was the captain, I answered.

"Yes. As we made camp, two strong chakra signatures passed us and made their way toward Konoha. My team and I do not know whether they made it here or not, but this was approximately seven hours ago." The Hokage nodded.

"Okay, that is good to know. What is your team's specialty? I would like to put you guys where you are needed so we can work on security and a plan of action."

"Nao is good at hand-to-hand combat, Takeo is good at strategies, and I am good at almost anything." I didn't want to seem to be bragging because I wasn't, but I couldn't come up with one thing that I was better at than the rest. The Hokage nodded.

"Nao, I will send you with Sasuke so you can meet the other ANBU and share what you know and what we know so everyone will be more skilled. Takeo, Shisui will take you to the Uchiha compound so you can talk with the head of security and the Nara clan to talk about strategies and the best possible plan of actions. Mika, you will go with Itachi and he will take you to Kakashi and then the three of you will go to our perimeter and set traps, warning bombs, and whatever else you can think of. You three can stay at the Uchiha residence for now since you will be working closely with them. Dismissed." She said as she looked at her paperwork again. Everyone bowed and then we headed out. Once we were outside, we stopped by the tree and faced each other.

"I never expected a kunoichi to come! Do you have a boyfriend?" Shisui asked. I didn't answer and made sure I seemed indifferent. He was good looking, but he wasn't my type and we were here on a mission, not a simple visit.

"Shisui, stop hitting on her. We have work to do." Sasuke said.

"Yeah, yeah. Alright, Takeo, looks like we are going to the Uchiha compound. Let's go!" He said as he started to walk off. Takeo looked at me for a moment and I nodded and then he was off.

"Come on Nao, you have to meet the other ANBU." Then they were gone. Leaving me with Itachi. We stayed looking at each other for a moment, then I had had enough of the staring contest we had, I was here for a mission, not to be scrutinized by someone.

"Where do we meet Kakashi?" He didn't say anything, but he started to walk away. I rolled my eyes and followed him without a word. This was going to be fun … not.

We were walking for a while and it looked like we were heading toward a training field or something. While we walked, I looked around at my surroundings; there were kids running around, people shopping, people just walking, shinobi walking toward their destination, and Itachi looking at me with his Sharingan. I glared.

"May I help you?" I asked stopping. He stopped too and he looked at me.

"Have you heard of the Karasu clan?" I didn't let him know that I was surprised that he mentioned my clan. Instead, I made it seem like I was indifferent. I knew that he would easily be able to tell the answer by how I answered.

"Of course I have," I started, earning me a glare, "everyone in the Mist has heard of the massacre. Why is that important?" I asked. I didn't want to tell him I was a part of the clan until I knew what he knew.

"Hn." Then he continued to walk. I didn't ask anything else. He knew something, but it wasn't the time to ask. We continued to walk until we went in to a forest of sorts and we came across a clearing. We stopped walking, but no one was there. I was about to ask what we were doing, but he answered before I got the chance to ask.

"Kakashi said he would meet us here. He is usually late." I nodded and looked around the clearing. It was a training area. I activated my eyes and looked around. I knew that Itachi felt the chakra flare up, but I didn't make a move to tell him what I was doing. I was just examining my surroundings, but as I turned around toward Itachi, I found him glaring. I glared back. What was his deal?

"Your eyes changed." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. I glared harder and walked toward him, he did not move.

"So, many people's eyes change when they activate their kekkei genkai. What is the big deal?" I wondered if he knew about the kekkei genkai of the Karasu clan…

"Your eyes are black and they resemble the kekkei genkai of the Karasu clan." He said stepping forward a little. I narrowed my eyes. He knew; not many people knew about the full stage of the Kuromerugan because it was so rare in my clan. The only way someone would know was if they had seen it and if they had been there the night of the massacre.

"Do you realize that many other kekkei genkais also have the same black eyes?" I would find out how he knew. But it didn't make sense why he would know, the Akatsuki killed my family, not Konoha. They had helped with the defense of the Mist. Maybe they interrogated an Akatsuki member, maybe they captured one and he talked about it willingly. I didn't know, but I was going to find out.

"Hn." He said realizing that I was right. Not many clans had a kekkei genkai that made people's eyes black, but there were some and it was a perfect cover-up for me. We didn't talk anymore as we waited for Kakashi. We waited for twenty minutes, before there was a puff in front of us.

"Sorry I am late. I got lost on the path of life." Was he serious? I looked at Itachi and saw him shake his head. Apparently it was his excuse that he used a lot.

"Who is this?" He asked Itachi.

"She is Yomi Mika and will be working with us for a while. She is part of the Mist team that came." Itachi said. I bowed in respect.

"Really? I was told that the team was ANBU." I smiled a little bit and showed him my tattoo.

"I am the ANBU captain of my team. It is nice to meet to Kakashi." I said. He was a little shocked, but I could hardly tell by how his mouth was covered.

"Impressive. Seems teens are getting more and more skilled. Now, what is the plan?"

"We are to set traps, warning signals, et cetera." I said. He nodded and Itachi, Kakashi, and I started to make our way out of the village a little ways to make the traps. We took almost two hours to set everything up. We set a lot of bomb, kunai, and shuriken traps. We also set up warning signals in places. I summoned some of my crows and make them spread out around the village and keep a look out.

"You summon crows?" Kakashi asked me in wonder. I nodded. Itachi only narrowed his eyes at my answer, but I narrowed my eyes back. As we headed back, Kakashi finally had had enough.

"Okay you two. What's up? We can't have any fights."

"Noting." I said looking away from Itachi and picking up my pace a little, getting in front of Kakashi and Itachi. We were about ten miles from the village when I felt something. It was small, but it was there. Itachi and Kakashi stopped next to me and looked at me. My eyes, when we were setting up traps, went back to blue, but now they were black.

"Did you feel that?" I asked. They shook their heads. Really … the Uchiha didn't notice? But then I felt it again, but closer this time. And this time, I saw both Kakashi and Itachi notice it too. We all looked at each other and I put my mask on. Someone was coming. Someone strong and very skilled.

* * *

How was it? Thanks for reading, I hope it's okay! ^-^


	4. Damn!

**A/N: **It is actually normal time for once! It's only about 11 pm! I am so happy, I'm not up too late … but I might end up staying up late anyway … anywho! I hope this story is okay and I hope that you guys like it! Umm … R&R&F please! I hope you all enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: **In my world, I own Naruto and I am rich … but this isn't my world, this is reality. I don't own Naruto!

"_Say goodbye to the good old days. There're never coming back. Watch your future fade. I came to play."_

We headed toward the area where we felt the strong signature and we all hid our chakra so we could sneak up on them. As we were looking around, I saw a red cloud a bit away and it was moving. I motioned to Kakashi and Itachi and we headed toward our right. We stopped when we heard two people talking.

"Why can't I just make a bird and fly, un?" The one with blonde hair asked the guy next to him.

"You are so annoying, you know that kid?" I stared in awe. One of the guys looked like a girl and the other looked like a fucking fish! But the main thing that caught my eye was the cloaks. Akatsuki. Kakashi, Itachi and I all shared a look, 'what were they doing?'

"Me? You are a fucking fish, yeah!"

"I am a shark; you're idiot with an impediment." I would have laughed if we weren't spying on the enemy.

"What? Shut up, hmm." Then they stopped. They looked at each other and then the shark guy smirked and turned around.

"Come on out. We know you are there." Kakashi, Itachi, and I looked at each other. We could either fight or we could go report it and let them make it to Konoha and attack. We decided and Kakashi and Itachi walked out. I stayed hidden so I could go to the rear and attack from behind.

"Well, well, what do we have here? An old geezer and a teen." The shark guys said.

"We knew we would run into Konoha shinobi soon enough. Let's get this party started, yeah!" And he stuck his hands in bags that were on his sides, but the shark guy stopped him. The blonde guy looked confused.

"Not so fast Deidara, it looks like we have underestimated our opponent a little." The shark guys said. Deidara looked confused.

"Kisame, now is not the time to be talking to the enemy, un!"

"We have two Sharingan wielders in front of us." Deidara looked shocked, but then he smirked.

"Finally, a real challenge! This is going to be a bang!" Then Kisame took his huge sword that was wrapped and charged for Itachi. Deidara charged Kakashi. I observed the fight, sure I wasn't really doing much, but Kakashi and Itachi seemed to be doing okay. Then I heard an explosion and I looked toward Kakashi and Deidara.

"Art is a bang, un!" Then clay bird flew toward Kakashi; luckily he moved before they exploded, but it was close. I looked over to see Itachi and Kisame. Kisame was already looking like he was going to lose, but he was still holding his own. Then I remembered something I had read about an Akatsuki member using clay. I practiced with the information for the longest time and I knew his weakness. I smirked and right as Deidara was running toward Kakashi, I puffed in front of him. He stopped and looked at me.

"Who the hell is this, un?" I didn't answer.

"Kakashi, go help Itachi, I got it from here." He didn't say anything, but as he left to help Itachi, he looked over his shoulder to make sure I was okay. I nodded; I knew what I was doing. I unsheathed my katana and got in a defensive stance. Deidara smiled.

"You made the wrong choice, yeah." Then small clay birds came flying at me.

"Kusanagi no Tsurugi!" (Thousand birds katana) I yelled as I sliced the birds. Deidara stared horrified.

"How the hell did you know?" I smiled.

"I do my research." Then I disappeared from sight. He looked around, but didn't find me. Then I came from behind and stabbed his right shoulder. He grunted in surprise and pain. Then I withdrew my katana and right as he turned around, I punched his face with chakra in my fist. He flew back into Kisame and Kakashi and Itachi jumped out of the way and looked over at me as I sheathed my katana. Kisame and Deidara stood up and glared at us.

"We'll be back, un. I will get you back, yeah." Deidara said at me. I narrowed my eyes. Then they were gone.

"We need to report this." I said.

"Yes, let's go." Itachi and Kakashi said at the same time. We started to head back to Konoha when Kakashi asked me a question.

"Why did you interfere with my fight?" I looked over at him. He wasn't mad, he was simply curious.

"I remembered him from something I read and I remembered that lightning could dis-arm his bombs. I could have told you, but that would have given him time to attack us. It was the best way." I said. He nodded and we continued in silence. Once at Konoha, we puffed into the Hokage's office. She looked up and narrowed her eyes.

"What happened?"

"Two Akatsuki were on their way here and as we watched them, then attacked us. We fought them off for a bit, then they retreated." Kakashi said.

"Already? This isn't good. Just so all of you know, I sent Naruto away a while ago, so he is safe. But I do not know why they are coming here now. Keep your eyes open. Dismissed." We bowed and left.

"Alright, I have to go. You kids have fun." Then Kakashi was gone, leaving Itachi and me alone. We didn't say anything as we made our way to the Uchiha residence. It was getting late and the sun was just about gone. We made it to the Uchiha compound and Itachi led me to the biggest house in it. His house.

"You will be staying in our guest bedroom; your teammates will also be staying here, but in different rooms." I nodded and he led me in his house.

"Itachi, you are late! Dinner is done-oh, who is this?" A woman asked as we walked into the dining room. I saw my teammates sitting and eating next to Sasuke and a man I did not know. He stood up and stood by the woman.

"We were caught up in something. This is Yomi Mika. Mika, this is my mom, Mikoto, and my dad, Fugaku." Itachi said. I bowed.

"Thank you for letting my team and I stay here for our mission." Mikoto smiled.

"It's no problem dear! You and Itachi go clean up and eat dinner." She said as she took her spot again. Fugaku, however, didn't sit down. I looked at him in his eyes and he seemed … curious.

"A kunoichi as a captain. Mist must be desperate." I narrowed my eyes, but they stayed blue. My teammates stopped eating and looked at what my reaction was going to be. I bowed a little as I answered.

"Excuse me sir, but I became ANBU at the age of ten. I earned my rank. I am not hungry, but thank you anyway for dinner." He looked surprised for a second, but then it was gone and he sat down without another word. I gave my teammates a look that told them to come to my room when they were done so we could discuss what happened. They nodded. Itachi led me upstairs to my room.

"Thanks." I said as I shut my door. As I shut my door, I realized that his room was across from mine. I didn't mind nor did I care. I set my stuff down and I took a five minute shower, putting my hair back up in a ponytail. I unpacked a little and I heard a knock at my door. I opened it and let Nao and Takeo in.

"What happened?" Nao asked sitting on my floor with Takeo.

"We saw two Akatsuki and we engaged in battle. I wounded one of them, but then they took off." I said right to the point. They nodded.

"I have not gotten too far in the plan of action yet, but the Nara clan and I are almost there." Takeo said. I nodded and looked at Nao.

"I showed the other ANBU some of our techniques and they showed me theirs; we have, mostly, the same technique. There are some differences, but nothing that couldn't take an hour to learn." He said. I nodded again.

"Itachi, Kakashi, and I put up traps, warning signals, and my crows throughout the area before the gates at least ten miles out. We should be able to tell when the enemy is coming." I said. They nodded.

"Alright, tomorrow we will do some more recon, but the day after, as long as none of you are needed, you have the day off. Dismissed." They stood and left me alone. I got ready for bed and lied awake for a while. I couldn't sleep. I wanted to know which Akatsuki members killed my clan and I wanted to know why Itachi knew a lot about my clan and why he and Shisui shared that look when they heard my name. Nothing made sense at the moment, but I was going to find out and soon. On my day off, I was going to sneak around and see what Konoha knew about the massacre. 'I will get answers.' I thought as I finally fell asleep.

I woke up around four am and I couldn't go back to bed, so I decided I would just get up and look around out back. I got dressed in my ANBU outfit and opened my window that led to the backyard. It was beautiful; there was a small lake with a little island in the middle of it, a small area with a lot of trees, and there were flowers everywhere. It was peaceful and calming. I walked to little island in the middle of the lake and leaned against the tree that was there. I began to think about the two Akatsuki that we fought. There were only two … only two. 'Why were there only two?' I asked myself. When they attacked my clan, there were three of them and they didn't seem deterred by it. And why did were they around Konoha? Yes, there was the nine tails, but from the information the Hokage told my team, they still needed to seven and eight tails before they got Naruto. So why attack now? Maybe they aren't after Naruto, maybe they have a different goal in mind. They know that the Mist and Konoha just signed a treaty, but what would they gain by showing up now? I had so many questions, but no answers.

I was brought out of my thoughts by someone walking toward me. I knew it was Itachi the second he walked out of his house because of his chakra signature.

"You're up early." I stated. He walked over and sat down next to me.

"As are you." I nodded. It seemed we both were early birds.

"What do you know about the Karasu clan?" I asked suddenly. He narrowed his eyes at me. I knew he was wondering why I wanted to know.

"You have asked me a few times it I knew about them, why do you want to know?" I asked looking at him. He stayed silent for a moment.

"They were massacred when the Mist was attacked by the Akatsuki. There was a Konoha team there to help the Mist. Only one person survived the massacre; a little girl who had the last name Yomi." He said looking at me. He knew a lot, but it wasn't a secret that I had survived. When the Akatsuki had left, there was a search party for survivors. I was found unconscious and brought to the hospital and kept under watch. They told me when I woke up about the massacre and asked if I remembered who did it. I told them it was dark and I couldn't really tell, but they had cloaks on, and thanks to the fires, I knew there was three of them and I knew they didn't' have masks on, but I still couldn't see their faces because of the shadow of the night. That's when they told me who attacked the Mist. The Akatsuki. I knew that there was no coincidence about it and that the Akatsuki had killed my clan. It was that day when I swore I would get revenge.

I looked at Itachi and saw him looking at me with his Sharingan. That's when I realized I spaced out.

"Sorry, it brought back memories from when the Akatsuki attacked. Yes, the clan was murdered when the Akatsuki attacked. It is purely a coincidence that I have the last name as the girl who survived." I didn't' want people to know I was the girl who survived because they may think that I was only here to get revenge and then they would send me back. It was true I wanted revenge, but I also wanted to help Konoha because they had helped the Mist when the Akatsuki attacked and I was, in a way, grateful that they helped. They may have saved multiple lives.

"And it's a coincidence that your eyes go black just like the Karasu clan?" Itachi asked standing up. I glared and stood up too.

"There are many kekkei genkais that make the owner's eyes go black. I thought I already told you this!" I said getting pissed. If he found out, I was screwed.

"Hn." He left it at that, but he puffed away somewhere. I didn't feel him anywhere near the house or anywhere near the house. I glared and started to walk back. It was getting lighter out and that meant everyone would be waking soon to continue with the mission. As I walked inside, I heard someone in the kitchen. It was Mikoto.

"Hello dear, breakfast will be done soon, could you go wake up your team and Sasuke?" She asked with a smile. I smiled back and nodded.

"Sure." And I left to go upstairs. I went to Sasuke's room first since it was the closest.

"Sasuke, your mom wants you up." I said knocking. After about three knocks, he opened the door and still looked tired, but he was dressed for the day, so I left him.

"Wake up Takeo and Nao, breakfast." I said and I heard two crumbles back and decided it was their loss if they didn't get up and I went back downstairs.

"Thank you dear." Mikoto said as she put eggs and pancakes on the table.

"It was no problem. Thank you for breakfast." I said starting to eat. She nodded and sat down just as Sasuke, Takeo, and Nao came in the kitchen and sat down.

"You two look dead." I said to my teammates. They glared, but didn't say anything. I laughed a little, but continued to eat.

"Oh, Sasuke, Takeo, Nao, and Mika, the Hokage would like to see you all after breakfast. Itachi left early with Fugaku to take care of some other things." Mikoto said. I nodded and stood up motioning my team to finish quickly. They nodded and finished within a minute. I laughed, but started to leave anyway.

"Thank you for breakfast Mikoto-san." My team and I said bowing a little as we started to head out.

"Oh, call me Mikoto dears! Now go, all of you have to go!" She said hurrying all of us.

"Thanks mom." Sasuke said before running with us to the Hokage's office. We all were silent along the way, but I was wondering what Itachi and Fugaku were doing.

Once we were outside of the office, Sasuke knocked twice and we waited.

"Come in." The Hokage said. We all walked in and I was Itachi, Fugaku, and Shisui waiting. The Hokage looked somewhat angry.

"It has come to my attention that someone is not telling us everything. If we are going to work together, we must not keep anything that would put any of us in danger." The Hokage said looking at me. I glared and snuck a peak at Itachi; he was also looking at me. 'Guess my secret is out. Fuck it.' My team waited hesitantly for someone else to talk and when I was about to, Sasuke beat me to it.

"What exactly is going on?" He asked. He had made is way next to his family when we walked in and was looking at me team curiously.

"I don't know, Mika, how about you let us in." The Hokage said. I sighed. My team looked at me with worry.

"I did not want you all to know because I didn't want you to think I was here just to get revenge on the Akatsuki. I am here to help protect Konoha." I said. It was partially true, but I didn't lie either. I just didn't say the whole truth.

"Wait, what didn't' she tell us?" Sasuke asked confused. The Hokage looked me to continue and I did.

"Itachi was right. I am the last of the Karasu clan." I was met with silence. They all should have guessed anyway since my last name was Yomi. I looked over at the Uchihas and saw Itachi and Shisui looking at each other again. Then there was a puff by the Hokage, it was Kakashi.

"Sorry I am late; I ran into an old lady and had to help here." Then he saw the faces on everyone.

"What's up?" He asked the Hokage, who was looking at me.

"Meet Mika Yomi." She said to me.

"I already met her. How is your memory, is it okay?" The Hokage shut her fists in anger.

"You didn't let me finish! Mika Yomi here is the last person alive from the Karasu clan." His eyes widened a fraction and looked at me. I stared back, but said nothing. Then I noticed he looked over at Itachi and Shisui. They all shared a silent conversation, one that I was intending on not letting go.

"Enough!" I said, causing everyone to look at me in surprise at my outburst.

"What?" The Hokage asked me. I looked at Kakashi, Shisui, and Itachi when I answered.

"Why the hell do you guys keep having these fucking silent conversations? If you really want nothing hidden, then pray tell, what the hell is going on?" I said pissed off. My team stayed silent as the Hokage looked at Kakashi, Shisui, and Itachi, but nothing was said right away.

"We are not hiding anything that you need to know about or need to concern yourself about." Kakashi said. I glared at him and turned on my kekkei genkai to check to see if he was lying. He wasn't. I nodded.

"I am sorry about not telling any of you, but-" I stopped talking, noticing something was off.

"But?" The Hokage asked. My team looked at me and noticed something was off about how I was acting. I was looking passed the Hokage and on the Hokage mountain in the distance. Someone was on it. I started to walk forward, but then stopped.

"Mika? What's up?" My team asked. I shushed them.

"Hold on one second." I had everyone's attention now and they were all looking out the window now, but the figure I saw vanished when I started to walk toward the window.

"Mika, explain, now." The Hokage asked. I was about to ask, but then I saw someone running toward the building … toward us and that someone just happened to be an Akatsuki.

"Fuck. The Akatsuki, they are here." I said just as the person was a building away … just standing there. Everyone saw him this time.

* * *

A cliffy! Mwahahahahahahaha *cough* Hehe, I hope it was okay! ^-^


	5. They wouldn't! You're lying

**A/N: **I hope this story is okay! R&R&F please! Thank you!

**Disclaimer: **Really? Still think I own Naruto? Guess again!

"_I came to play to get my dues paid. I guess you had a dream, but it can't be saved. I came to play, I'm here to stay. Best get out of my way. I have come to play." – Figured it out yet?_

"Shizune! Get in here now! Get all ANBU on alert. This is a code red!"

"Y … yes ma'am!" My team and Itachi's team were already on our way to the target.

"We need to split up and surround him." Itachi and I said at the same time. We glanced at each other and nodded. I took my team to the left and his to the right. We all jumped around the Akatsuki and surrounded him.

"Well, well, it's about time you guys fucking got here." The Akatsuki said to us.

"Why are you here?" Shisui asked. The Akatsuki laughed. I glared. He had a scythe and he had stitches around his neck.

"Why am I fucking here? Ha, you all are really fucking retards."

"Enough. Tell us and surrender or we fight. You have one chance." Nao said. The Akatsuki looked over at us and glared.

"Hmm … as much as that fucking sounds, I don't have time to fight. I just came to make it clear that we the Akatsuki can get into your fucking village without breaking a sweat!" I knew everyone was getting pissed, but we need to know a little more before we attacked.

"Why are you coming after Konoha?" I asked. He smirked.

"Right to the fucking point I see. I fucking like you! What does the Akatsuki want with a bunch of bitches like you? Well … let's just say that Konoha holds valuable information and valuable skill that we want." Did he say skill? By the look on the Uchiha's faces, I knew I heard right.

"Why do you want shinobi from here?" Takeo asked, finally speaking up.

"Why? You all are really fucking idiots! The Sharingan is the most skillful kekkei genkai known, if we possessed it, well; we would be unstoppable now wouldn't we?" We all had had enough and we ran at him to attack, but before we got there, he puffed.

"What the hell?" Sasuke asked pissed off. We all looked around and tried to sense anything, but he was gone.

"At least we know why they are coming after Konoha." I said. They all looked at me and I stared back.

"We can't let them get any of you. They will be too powerful if they got you guys." I said. They nodded and we headed back to the Hokage's office.

"Report!" She asked pacing around.

"He got away, but the Akatsuki want the Sharingan." She stopped pacing and grabbed sake to drink.

"Of course they do. This is unbelievable." She said sitting down.

"Here is what we will do. We will continue as we planned and keep tabs out. You three will have to be more careful. Mika, will go with Itachi and Kakashi again to do a perimeter check tomorrow. Takeo, you will go with Shisui again. And Nao, you will go with Sasuke again. But this will only be in the morning. If everything goes okay, you all will have the evening off. Dismissed, but keep an eye out." We all left with that.

"Of course they want the Sharingan! Everyone wants it!" Shisui said. No one was really in a talking mood. Then Kakashi puffed in front of us. 'I wonder where he went when we left to confront the Akatsuki?' I thought.

"Itachi, Shisui, I need to talk to you both." He said.

"Why not me?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi looked over at him.

"It's big boy stuff." Sasuke glared and started to storm off. I looked at them, but followed Nao and Takeo as they headed back to the Uchiha residence. Once we got a little ways, I hid my chakra and made my way back to where I saw Kakashi, Shisui, and Itachi go.

"Where the hell are you going?" Takeo asked. I looked at him.

"Go back Takeo. I need to figure out what they are keeping from me." He narrowed his eyes, but nodded and left. I continued to go where I saw them go and found them in a training field.

"This isn't good." Shisui said.

"We need to continue as we are and not hint toward anything." Itachi said.

"That's going to be hard since she, I don't know, practically lives with us!" Shisui said.

"Enough you two. She won't find out. None of will tell and plus, the Hokage is the only other person who knows." Kakashi said.

"That's not completely true. Remember when the Akatsuki came and saw." Shisui said. Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"Damn. But they won't tell her, they want us and they don't even know about her." Kakashi said. They nodded. 'What were they talking about? They weren't even there.' I thought. Then they all looked toward me. 'Shit.'

"Come out. We know you are there." Itachi said. I sighed and jumped down and walked toward them.

"How much did you hear?" Shisui asked. I glared.

"Tell me everything and tell me now." I said making my eyes black. The Uchihas activated their Sharingan and Kakashi stood more alert.

"There is nothing to tell." Kakashi said. I glared.

"Fuck off. I know something isn't right. What don't you want me to know? And what does the Akatsuki know about the massacre?" I asked. They all sighed at the same time. Itachi was the one who answered.

"The attack on Mist happened because the Akatsuki had people on the inside. The Karasu clan helped them. You were too young to know at the time." What? No … my family wouldn't have done it!

"You're lying. They … they wouldn't …" I said letting my kekkei genkai go. They all looked at each other.

"We're sorry, but it's true." Kakashi said walking toward me. I stepped back though. I never wanted sympathy and I didn't want it now!

"How … how the hell do you three know?" I asked glaring at them.

"We were there. The Hokage found out about it just before the Akatsuki attacked. We were about to tell the Mizukage, but we were interrupted by the Akatsuki." It didn't make any sense. Why would my clan do that? Why? I shook my head.

"Then why did the Akatsuki massacre everyone! Huh? Why the hell did the hell did they leave me alive? Why the hell was I the one to be kept alive and suffer like I did! Why!" I screamed at them going on my knees.

"Why would we know? We weren't the ones who-"

"Shisui, enough." Kakashi said. No … my family … they wouldn't. They were loyal! They were loving and they were … no … no.

"Mika …" Kakashi started to say, but I looked at him with the most hate I could manage. My eyes were black and my chakra was going haywire.

"No. Do not try to make this better! You have no right!" I said standing. They were looking weary.

"I will tell the Hokage that she knows that her family was in on the attack. You two deal with her." Then Kakashi was gone.

"He left us with the hard job!" Shisui complained. Itachi didn't say anything, but walked toward me. I wanted to hurt someone, I wanted to kill something, I wanted to take everything out on Itachi, but I couldn't. I just couldn't do that. Right when he was in front of me and I looked into his obsidian eyes, not Sharingan, I hugged him. I hadn't hugged anyone since I had hugged my mom before I went out to train. I had never wanted sympathy nor did I want it now. I just wanted … I wanted someone to lean on so I wouldn't kill anyone or hurt anyone or myself.

Itachi held onto me and nodded toward Shisui, who nodded and puffed away. Itachi picked me up and I didn't fight it. He started to run, where? I had no clue. I thought it would be to the Uchiha residence, but I was wrong. When he stopped running, I looked up from his shoulder and I saw the whole village. He put me on my feet and I looked around. We were on the Hokage Mountain. It was getting dark and the sun was setting.

"Thank you." I said looking at him, he nodded. We both sat down and watched the sun go down and we both were silent.

I started to think about my family and if there were any clues to what they were thinking. I remembered a man in my house and they were talking to my parents about something. When I walking into the room they were in, they stopped talking and my parents told me to leave and that they would be done shortly. The man there had a cloak on with red clouds. I had always wondered who he was, but I must have forgotten since it happened when I was about five. I cried silently trying not to draw attention to myself. Itachi was already helping me by just being there for me, so I didn't want him to do anything else for me.

We both stared at the stars for a while and I began to get tired, so I lied down and continued to look at the stars. Itachi didn't say anything and I was thankful, but I still wanted to know a few things.

"Itachi, can I ask you something?"

"Hn." I took that as a yes.

"Why didn't you tell me when you realized who I was?" He was silent for a moment.

"I didn't think you were ready." I glanced at him and sighed. Of course he didn't. I stood up then.

"We should get back, but … thank you." He didn't reply as he stood up and we started to go back to the Uchiha residence. Once we were back, I went to my room and he went to his … right across from me. Once in my room, I was about to take a shower, but there was a knock on my door. I opened it to see Nao and Takeo. I let them in.

"Are you okay?" Takeo asked me.

"Honestly? No, I am not okay, but I will have to be in order to finish this mission." I said sitting on my bed.

"Let us know if you need anything." Nao said. I nodded.

"Thank you both. Now, go get some sleep. We have a day off tomorrow afternoon, use it wisely!" I said pushing them out of my room. They laughed and left. I closed my door and took a quick shower. Once I as done, I went to bed. I officially now knew it was the Akatsuki, but I still didn't know why they killed the people who they got information from and I didn't know why they spared me. But I was going to figure it out. One way or another, I was going to get answers.

* * *

I know this chapter was short, but the next one will be longer! I hope it was okay, R&R&F please! ^-^


	6. The scroll

**A/N: **Okay, to clarify what happened. I accidently forgot a chapter … so I put up a new chapter two! So if you guys have not read that … I would. It's kind of important and I am sorry about the little mix up! Now back to the current chapter. This one is longer, as I promised! Um … some stuff is cleared up while more questions are brought up. ^-^ I hope you guys like it and sorry for any grammar mistakes that you guys may find. It is currently … 8:00 am … and no, I have not gone to bed yet. I am tired, yet cannot sleep! Can you guys believe that! It sucks … it really does. I hate insomnia … Enough of my venting about my issues on sleep. Enjoy the story and R&R&F please!

**Disclaimer: ***Too tired to make something up* I do not own Naruto!

"_I go inside this light, I see new life unfold. Each second I burn brighter, your fire is going cold. You could try to beg for mercy, go ahead and try to run. No escape and no redemption; understand the ends begun. I am here to stay and I have come to play." – I Came to Play by Downstait … if you guys haven't figured it out already. ^-^_

I woke up again around four am. I took a quick shower and got dressed. I couldn't believe my family, my clan, would betray the Mist like they did and I didn't get why the Akatsuki killed my family even though they helped. It just made no sense to me.

I slowly walked downstairs and was about to leave to go for a morning walk, but someone else was up too.

"Coming with me for a walk?" I asked.

"Hn." I didn't know if that meant yes or no, but I left Itachi by the door and walked the streets of Konoha. Most people were still sleeping, but there were a few that were setting up their shops, getting ready for the day, or they were just walking and enjoying the scenery. I felt Itachi behind me before I saw him and I stopped walking and turned around.

"Why are you following me?" I asked getting pissed. I wasn't an emotional wreck like I was yesterday; he had nothing to worry about. I wasn't going to explode.

"No."

"Then why are you walking with me?" I asked starting to walk again. I heard a small sigh from him and looked over at him.

"Sasuke and Shisui were worried about you and asked me to watch you." Really? I raised my eyebrow.

"Then why the hell aren't they walking with me?"

"They are asleep." I laughed. Of course they were. Nothing else was said for a while, but I was getting tired of it and I had one question that I had been meaning to ask him and it seemed like the perfect time to ask.

"Itachi, when you were in the Mist during the attack, did you see who killed my clan?" I asked stopping by some tree that had a swing on it. He didn't answer me right away, but after a moment, he did.

"No." I looked in his eyes. He was lying. I glared.

"You're lying to me. Why won't you tell me?" I asked getting closer to him. He was pissing me off; I just wanted to know who to kill extra slowly when the time came.

"You do not want to know." I glared. I didn't want to know? Hell no! I didn't need to know, I wanted to know! I needed to know!

"Why not?" I said getting a kunai out. He glared as I got closer.

"It is not the time for you to know." That was it. I jumped at him and he blocked my kunai with his.

"You will tell me." I said after trying to hit him, but it was the same over and over again. Attempt to hit, have it blocked, duck, jump, attempt again, have it blocked, duck, jump. I had had enough.

"Housenka Tsumabeni!" (Mythical Fire Phoenix) I screamed as I threw kunai in the fire so they would be hidden. Itachi jumped back and deflected the kunai and the fire. I glared.

"Enough." He said, but I was not done. I unsheathed my katana and puffed away. He narrowed his eyes and sensed for my chakra, but I hid my chakra and attacked from behind. He sensed me the last minute and turned around in time to block my katana.

"Tell me!" I screamed going after him again. This time he puffed. I glared at the air and searched for Itachi, but I didn't see him. The next moment I was thrown against a tree and a kunai was on my throat and my katana was forced out of my hands. I glared at Sharingan.

"Why won't you tell me? I deserve to know."

"You do, but you, emotionally, are not ready. This proves it." Damn it. He was right, even if I didn't want him to be. I nodded slightly at him and he put his kunai away and gave me my katana back, which I sheathed.

"I will find out, one way or another, with or without your help." I said about to walk away, but I noticed we had company. I turned to see Sasuke, Shisui, Nao, Takeo, and Kakashi. Itachi and I just stood there.

"The Hokage wants to see us, if you guys are done with your little quarrel." Shisui said with a smirk. I glared and started to walk away. Everyone followed me, but Nao and Takeo came to talk to me.

"What was that about?" Takeo asked. I glanced at him.

"He knows." I said glancing back at Shisui, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Itachi. They were talking about what happened too.

"Knows what?" Nao asked. I looked back in front of me when I answered.

"Who killed my clan." I heard to small gasps and I looked at my team. Their eyes were wide.

"What? Which Akatsuki members did it?" Takeo asked.

"He won't tell me, thus the fight." I said with narrowed eyes. The conversation ended when we walked into the Hokage's building. I knocked since I was the first to the door.

"Come in." She said. We all walked in and saw the Hokage surrounded by papers and Shizune by her side.

"So which one of you two, Itachi and Mika, will tell me why there was a little show in front of the Academy?" The Hokage asked while she continued to sign papers. I answered.

"We felt like sparring." I said uncertainly. The Hokage glanced at me with a look of 'I don't believe that for a second'. I gave her a small smile and she just shook her head.

"Whatever, as long as it does not interfere with your teamwork. Kakashi, Itachi, and Mika, you three will be checking the traps and whatnot. Nao, you will go with Sasuke again, and Takeo, you will go with Shisui again for a little while. Once you all have done what you are assigned to do, you will have the afternoon off, but before you do, if Takeo and the Nara clan have come up with an action plan, then we all will meet and have a conference with everyone. Dismissed. Shizune, get me my damn sake!" The Hokage said as she continued to look through more paperwork. We all left and my team went with whom they were supposed to go with, leaving me with Itachi and Kakashi.

"No fighting you two." Kakashi said as we headed outside of Konoha. I didn't respond, I did not want to fight with Itachi anymore and I wouldn't. If he wouldn't tell me, I would find out myself.

We looked at all the traps that we set and everything seemed in order. I called all my crows and all were accounted for, so we headed back. The whole time was in silence. I was thinking about how I was going to sneak into the records room that I knew Konoha had … there was only two problems with it. The first problem was that there was an ANBU guard. The second problem being that the door was sealed with chakra and if the seal broke, then the Hokage knew about it right away and would be at the room in a matter of seconds. I had to, somehow, get passed both hindrances.

"Mika, are you listening?" Kakashi asked while looking over at me. I looked over to see Itachi also looking over at me. I glared and looked at Kakashi.

"I was spacing out, sorry." I said looking in front of me again.

"We were thinking about going out to eat later when we have off to get to know each other better and to, I don't know, come to an agreement between you two?" Kakashi said looking at Itachi and then at me. I laughed a sinister laugh, causing them to look confused a little.

"Sorry Kakashi, but I have plans I have to deal with. I am sure my team would love to eat with you though." I said. He nodded.

"What are you doing that is so important?" Itachi asked. I narrowed my eyes. Damn it. He knew I was up to something.

"I am writing a letter to the Mizukage later to let her know how things are going. Then I am going to work on my jutsus. Have a problem with that?" I asked glaring at him. He glared back, but said nothing more.

Once we made it to Konoha, we made our way to the Hokage's office to tell her we found nothing wrong with the traps and detection systems. On our way, we met up with Sasuke, Nao, Shisui, Takeo, and a person I did not know.

"This is Shikamaru Nara and I have been working with him with the action plans." Takeo said. I nodded toward Shikamaru and he nodded to me. We all continued our way to the Hokage's office as we kept talking.

"Have you guys figured out an action plan?" Nao asked.

"We have come up with a few." Shikamaru answered.

"Interesting. I just hope we don't need them." Sasuke said. No one said anything, for we were at the door to the office, but silently, I knew we all wished for the same thing too.

"Come in!" The Hokage said. We walked in and waited for her attention. She was reading some sort of scroll and we decided it best that we did not interrupt her. After a minute or so, she threw the scroll across the room.

"I cannot believe her! She has no right no-" She stopped mid-sentence when she realized she was rambling.

"Who has no right?" Shisui asked.

"Katsumi. She wants her sake back." The Hokage said glaring at no one in particular. I saw Nao smile briefly, but, for once, he let it go.

"Kakashi, Mika, Itachi, report." She said settling down.

"All of our detection traps are still intact." Kakashi said. She nodded.

"Sasuke and Nao, how is the training going?"

"Good. Are styles are a bit different, but we have already showed each other what we need." Sasuke said.

"Good, now, Shikamaru, Takeo, what do you have? Give me a brief description of your plan so I can talk to the elders about it before we get a meeting going." Shikamaru answered.

"If the Akatsuki attack, we have come up with a plan to get women and children into the catacombs under the Hokage Mountain. We will have Genin and Chuunin help with that. We will have Jounin and ANBU split up in different cells depending on where the Akatsuki come from. We will have people on all sides of the village and we will transport radios to each cell so we can keep in contact and get help if needed." He said. The Hokage thought for a moment and nodded.

"Alright, you all have the rest of the day off. Tomorrow I want all of you in here after breakfast. Dismissed."

"Who's up for Ichiraku's?" Shisui asked. No one seemed to complain about it, so we started to head that was. My team and I were a few steps behind everybody else.

"What's your plan?" Takeo asked quietly. Honestly, I did not know. I could impersonate someone who would be able to get into record room, but I did not know the level of the ANBU guarding it and they may see right through it. I could use a genjutsu, but they might be able to see though that too. Damn it, nothing was working out well. Maybe I could just ask the Hokage to look … maybe.

"I'll meet up with you guys later." I said not telling them what I was going to do. They understood though, they were my team after all. They looked at me and nodded.

"Good luck." They both said and they kept walking. I started to walk back toward the Hokage's office when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around quickly and glared.

"What the hell?" I asked. Why was he keeping me from what I told him earlier?

"Where are you going?" Itachi asked. I continued to glare as I took his hand off my shoulder and faced him.

"That is none of your business. You can either let me do what I was about to do when you stopped me or we can have a sparring match again. Your choice." I said pissed off. He looked at me and I saw his eyes soften a little, but only a minute amount. 'What is he thinking?' I asked myself wondering why his eyes softened a little.

"Genjutsu." Was all he said as he walked away. Huh? He couldn't have known … could he? I watched him go back to the rest of the group and I realized something that scared me to death. I was feeling something toward him. He never actually stopped me from finding out information. He merely obscured the information or he would put it off saying I wasn't ready to hear what truth. Sure, I was pissed about that, but maybe he did that because he cared for me. I smiled as I turned around. I was falling for the indifferent, maybe passionate, Uchiha.

I dropped the thoughts of Itachi when I, instead of going to the Hokage's office, headed to the record room. I was going to use Itachi's advice and hopefully he wasn't tricking me. I walked up the stairs and carefully hid my chakra and snuck a peak around the corner. The ANBU standing by the door looked half asleep. I smiled as I activated my Kuromerugan. I puffed quickly in front of the ANBU and got him to look in my eyes. I didn't want to hurt him; I just wanted to make sure he did not get in my way. He fell into my genjutsu and he fell to the floor, barely conscious, but okay. I looked at the door and saw the chakra running through it with my Kuromerugan. This was going to be tricky. I did a few hand signs and put my hand on the handle.

"Release." I whispered. I saw the chakra slowly dissipate and I hurried in the room, taking the ANBU with me and putting a dopple ganger of him so people might walk past without noticing. Maybe.

Once inside, I shut the door and put the ANBU down in the corner and I looked in the room. It didn't look like a room, no, it looked like a fucking two story library. Shit, this was going to take a while. I created about five more of myself so I could divide and hopefully conquer. I was looking for information about the night of the attack. I overheard that the Hokage knew about my clan's involvement, so there had to be a record of Itachi, Kakashi, and Shisui going to tell the Mizukage.

I looked top to bottom in the library room and I didn't find anything. I sat down in the middle of a random aisle. It was useless! I glared at a random book for a minute of two, when I realized what the heck I was looking at. I smiled in triumph and then I was a little disappointed that I didn't find it earlier, but let that emotion drop because I had found it. The scroll was named The Karasu Clan. I took it and went to the middle of the library were there was a small couch and a table. I opened it and began to read.

_The Karasu Clan has been around for generations and is very powerful. The clan possess the Kuromerugan, which is like the Sharingan, in which whomever possess it can cast genjutsus, copy any jutsu other than another kekkei genkai, and it can also predict the moves of the users opponents. _

_The Karasu Clan lived in the Mist and had a small compound where the clan lived. They are a generally peaceful clan. When a threat presents itself to the Mist or to the clan, they attack with full force. Other then that, they lived peaceful lives and they trained hard to possess the most advanced level of the Kuromerugan. It is rare for a member of the Karasu Clan to possess this level of Kuromerugan because of the difficulties the member has to go through. In order to possess such level, the member must see some sort of trauma that affects the member personally; the member must train hard, every day, and never give themselves slack. Only about five members in history have ever reached this level of Kuromerugan. _

_The Karasu Clan, however, was massacred. They had been giving intelligence to the Akatsuki so they could invade Mist and take over. No one knows why they decided to help the Akatsuki, but they did and it resulted in their death. Konoha found out about their betrayal to the Mist too late and arrived minutes before the attack happened. It was almost pitch black when the sudden attack happened and the Mist were not prepared. Multiple people died, but thanks to the Mizukage and the quick thinking of Mist ANBU, they were able to fend off the Akatsuki long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Once everything was done and dawn finally arrived; devastation was revealed. The Akatsuki were gone, but in their wake were multiple deaths, including the massacre of the Karasu Clan. But the Mizukage was not surprised to see the Karasu Clan massacred. The Mizukage, Zurui, who was old and dying, had been told just before the Akatsuki attacked by Konoha that the Karasu Clan had done what they did. Zurui was beyond livid and decided to take care of the problem. He sent ANBU to take care of them and he told them it would look like the Akatsuki took care of their loose ends. It worked perfectly and the three ANBU who took care of them had been a secret until Zurui died and the new Mizukage, Katsumi, stepped up and confronted the three ANBU and put a record of the events down on paper and had the three ANBU sign it, to assure a treaty, to assure responsibility. _

_To this day, only one Karasu member is still alive, Yomi Mika. One of the ANBU kept her alive. Katsumi reasoned that the ANBU was too young to kill a young girl and kept it at that. _

_The Akatsuki, though, are still to blame, unofficially, for the massacre of the Karasu Clan._

I stared at the scroll. What? The scroll was not clear on which village's ANBU had massacred my clan. I looked farther down the scroll to find read the last part of the scroll. What! How could this be … no … no!

* * *

Another cliffy! Mwahah ... yeah, too tired to finish the laugh. I hope it was okay! I don't know when I'll update ... sorry v-v Um ... R&R&F please and again, sorry for any grammar error, it is realllllly early in the morning and I havn't been to sleep, so frogive me! I hope it was okay! Sayonara readers! For now ^-^


	7. Reflection

**A/N: **Now this story is going to get a little interesting. I think I might hurry some things in the future, but I don't know, it could just be me. Umm … I hope this story is okay! R&R&F please!

**Disclaimer: **… I do not own Naruto! Why would you even think that! I mean really! I am not capable of creating such … such a fantastic story! And besides … I am only 16 for kami's sake!

"_The worlds got a funny way of turning 'round on you, when a friend tries to stab you right in the face. Losing faith in everything that I thought I hoped I knew. Don't sweat it, (it was) set on false pretense." – False Pretense by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I thought it was good for this chapter … and next. ^-^_

The last part of the scroll was ripped off, leaving me wondering who the fuck it was! I came this far and nothing was there! I did all this to get a ripped scroll! I was beyond pissed. I was livid.

"What the fuck!" I screamed. I was so close to finding out who massacred my clan! Who massacred my family and who the fuck decided to spare me! Now I knew it was not the Akatsuki, but that made it so much worse. It was either ANBU from my own village or … or … my eyes widened in realization. Kakashi, Shisui, and Itachi were there. They were the ones who told Zurui … they were there and they knew who did it. They knew and they wouldn't tell me! I stood up suddenly, mu chakra haywire, my eyes as dark as the eyes of a crow and I was pissed and I was ready to kill something or someone. I clutched to scroll like dear life and I sprinted out of the room and released my Doppler ganger. I left the door open, I did not care at the moment if they found out I was in there. I had business to take care of. I ran down the stairs, luckily passing no one. I ran down the street looking for Ichiraku's. I finally found it and I slowed down to a walk and hid my chakra while I listened in on them for a moment, timing my approach wisely.

"This is the best ramen I have ever had!" Nao said loudly.

"It gets boring after a while." Sasuke said.

"That's because Naruto drags you in here every day to eat it." Shisui said. I heard laughter then.

"So, where is Mika? I thought she was just going to send the Mizukage a letter telling updating her." Kakashi said.

"She probably got caught up in the scenery or in her training. She does that a lot." Takeo said.

"Still, she seemed in a hurry to be somewhere. Speaking of which, Itachi, what did you talk to her about?" Shisui asked.

"I bet they were fighting again. They seem to do that a lot lately." Nao said.

"You don't like her, do you Itachi?" I heard Sasuke's smile when he talked.

"Hn." Was all he said.

"Just don't fight anymore, it affects both of you when we are in the field. It could potentially be deadly if you both were pissed off at each other and didn't work well together." Kakashi said.

"We can't have any casualties right now or ever. It would be devastating." Shisui said. I had had enough. They did not know what it was like to lose everything, everyone they ever loved! And they knew who did it to me, but they wouldn't tell me. No, no, they would tell me. I didn't want to know, I needed to know!

I walked in Ichiraku's and Takeo felt me first and turned around with a smile, but it disappeared upon him seeing my posture and my eyes. He narrowed his eyes and nudged Nao. Nao looked at me with confusion, but then he saw the scroll. Realization hit his eyes and he narrowed his eyes. Everyone stopped talking to see what Takeo and Nao were getting up for. Then they saw me. I glared.

"Mika, you okay?" Shisui asked getting up. I pulled my katana out and pointed it at him. He turned his Sharingan on.

"Sit." I said. He did, but he was confused.

"Mika, what is going on?" Kakashi asked. I glanced at him, but then went back to glaring at Itachi. He was just looking at me, indifferent as ever. I threw the scroll at them and Sasuke caught it.

"What is this?" He asked. Itachi, Kakashi, and Shisui all looked at it and their eyes widened all at once. Except for itachi's.

"Mika, what is that scroll? Is it what I think it is?" Takeo asked. I nodded.

"The Akatsuki had nothing to do with the fucking massacre!" I said pissed off.

"Mika, we can explain-" Kakashi started, but Itachi cut him off.

"The bottom was ripped off, no? You do not know if it was us or Mist who did it." I glared. He knew I would find the scroll, he could've ripped it!

"You could have done it on purpose, to throw me off." I said glaring at Itachi.

"Mika, your family betrayed the Mist! They helped the Akatsuki. It was dark, anyone could've done it. It was a battle hidden in the shadows." Shisui said. Sasuke was still a little confused, but he was getting it slowly. I knew he had no part in it. He was too young and Itachi already told me that he and his team were the ones in Mist at the time. I sheathed my katana, but I was still pissed.

"Were you the ones who massacred my clan?" I asked the three of them. Sasuke looked at his brother, Itachi was looking at me, and Kakashi and Shisui were looking at each other and at me.

"No." they all answered at the same time. I narrowed my eyes at Itachi, but I could not see any lies in his eyes. I sighed. I turned off my Kuromerugan and started to walk out of the restaurant.

"Wait. Are you going to work with us and watch our back if need be or will you let your feelings in the way?" Kakashi asked me. I stopped and turned around to look at them.

"I will make sure none of you die. You have my word. I won't another person I care about die." With that, I left. I was stunned with my words. They may have massacred my family, but I would put my life up to die before I would let them die. I cared for them, I did, but was I willing to forgive them if they massacred my family? I had no idea.

"Mika? You okay?" Nao asked stepping in front of me with Takeo to stop me from walking any farther.

"I don't know. I need time to think a little. Thank you both for being good teammates. You guys are like brothers to me." I said hugging them. They were surprised at first, but they hugged back. Once I let go, I started to walk.

"Don't wait up for me. Have fun while you guys can." I said giving them a small smile, which they returned.

"Be careful Mika. We'll see you later tonight." Takeo said. I nodded.

"You guys too." I said walking to the training field on the south side of the village. It was by the Uchiha residence, but far enough to give me enough space. I walked in the field and walked to the lake that was there. I sat down on the water's edge and looked into the water. I saw my mother looking at me. I smiled. I looked so much like my dad, but I had my mom's blue eyes. I began to think more about Kakashi, Shisui, and Itachi as the picture of my mom disappeared as I put my hand in the water.

What if they were the ones who massacred my family? Would I be able to forgive them? They were doing what they were told; they were following orders just like I did every day. I killed people, yes, because they were bad, posed a threat to the Mist, or posed a threat to our alliances. The more I thought about it, the more I was able to understand why they would have, if they did, massacre my family. Yes, it was my family and that would never change, but they betrayed the Mist, killing multiple lives because of the intelligence they gave the Akatsuki. Even if I tried to come up with reasons that would defend my family, the outcome always was the same; I knew exactly how Zurui felt and how, if they did do it, Kakashi, Shisui, and Itachi felt. But they also could have not massacred my family and someone in the Mist did, but either way, I knew the people and I cared for them. The Mist was my home and my family now. They all meant something to me. I cared for them and they cared for me. Konoha, they were very nice. Kakashi became my older brother; Shisui became the annoying cousin that you couldn't hate; Sasuke became a brother; Mikoto and Fugaku became my parents; Itachi … Itachi became my love. I learned to love him. He cared for his family, he cared for his village, and he showed his care when I found out about my family helping the Akatsuki. Through his indifference look, I could read him like a book. I could tell when he was sad, mad, worried, happy, and amused. I loved him for him and if he did help with the massacre with my family, I would forgive him, even if it took a little time. I knew that if someone betrayed Konoha and I was ordered to take them out, I would because it was my mission and me killing the enemy would make sure Konoha was safe again. If they did do it, I would forgive and forget. Even if it was hard at first, I would do it because someone cannot learn and progress if they are stuck in the past.

I got out of my thoughts by seeing blurring reflection of someone behind me. It was too blurred to make out a face and I couldn't sense any chakra. 'It's either Kakashi, Shisui, Itachi, Nao, or Takeo. I stood up about to lightly punch them for trying to sneak up on my and turned around to stop in my tracks. 'How?'

"You." I said getting in a defensive stance. The person in front of me smirked.

"It's been a fucking while hasn't it bitch?" He asked walking toward me. 'How didn't I sense them? Why didn't my crows or the other traps work?' I thought to myself as I walked backwards on the lake.

"Wondering how the hell I got in? Your guy's little traps were easy to get through once we found out their location from some help." He said walking closer to me.

"Help?" I asked confused. He smirked again.

"Inside help." My eyes widened. What? Inside help? No …

* * *

Inside help! I wonder who the person is! This is getting intense, no? Anywho, I hope it was okay! I know it was short and all, but it was very informative ... I think. I mean, she likes Itachi! R&R&F please! Thanks! ^-^ Sorry for any grammar mistakes you may or may not find!


	8. A betrayal

**A/N: **How long has it been since I last updated? Hmm … it's been a while! Sorry, but I have been very busy lately. Okay … what the hell is the deal? *puppy dog eyes* Why don't I have any reviews? V-V It is quite sad, to be honest. I love reviews! Okay, anywho, I hope this story is okay! Please R&R&F! Thank you all for reading! ^-^

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own Naruto! I would love to though!

"_It's never your enemies that get you; it's always your own that do." – I thought it appropriate for this chapter! ^-^_

"Who?" I asked. I thought he wouldn't answer me, but he did.

"Your little friend Takeo. You see, he didn't want to see anyone dead and we made him a 'deal' that said the Akatsuki wouldn't kill anyone." Idiot! He thought they would keep their word; they were S-rank criminals!

"What do you want?" I asked stopping in the middle of the lake. He smirked again. I was getting tired of his smirks.

"Itachi Uchiha." My eyes widened. No, they couldn't have him!

"Why him?" I asked too quickly. I hoped he wouldn't notice it, but he did.

"Got a little fucking crush on him do you? He is the most talented shinobi with great skill. He would be a great recruit for the Akatsuki." I glared.

"What makes you think he will go with you?" I asked. This time, he didn't smirk. He smiled.

"What if the person he fucking cares for is taken and threatened? I think he would come, don't you, bitch?" I glared.

"No. He cares more about his village than some girl." He didn't' seem surprised by my response.

"We think otherwise." What?

"We?" Then I felt it. I looked around me to see the Deidara guy, the Kisame guy, and then some puppet I hadn't seen before. They surrounded me. 'Fuck.'

"You have two fucking choices. One, come with us and you might not die. Two, fight and you might die." 'So either way I have a chance of dying. I don't want to go down without a fight.' I thought making my eyes black. He smiled.

"Fuck yes! Finally, some fucking action!" He said gripping his scythe. I looked around me. I was out numbered and out skilled. I had no chance, the only thing I could do was make a big enough fight that someone would see and come help. This was about to become an even longer day than I thought it would be.

I looked around me and thought of an idea. It would be tricky and it would be a surprise if it worked because they were Akatsuki, but I needed to try everything I could think of. I started doing hand signs as I felt the man with the scythe build his chakra as he walked toward me. I smiled at him as I puffed.

"What the hell just happed!" The man asked looking around.

"She is somewhere near us." The puppet said. They looked around and I saw Deidara make little bugs to search for me. It was now or never. I made the hand signs and puffed behind Kisame. I his nerve on his neck and he went rigged and fell to the ground.

"What the?" The pupped said turning to look at me. I smiled and ran at him with my katana. I didn't make it too far because of the spiders that surrounded me. I sent a surge of lightning out to about five feet and disabled the spiders and continued to the puppet. He sent his arms forward to try to grab me, but I just cut them off. While I was busy with the puppet, the guy with the scythe snuck up behind me. I ducked just as the scythe went over my head.

"Hidan, we don't want her dead, yeah." Deidara said. Hidan swore.

"Damn it, but that's no fucking fun!" He said as I was busy trying to fight off twenty arms with kunai that had flown at me. I was getting tired. Fighting three Akatsuki was fucking hard. I was too busy fighting the pupped to realize that a small bird had landed on my shoulder. The next thing I knew, I was flying and my back hit a tree.

"Ow." I said standing up. The three Akatsuki looked at me and I looked at them. This was getting nowhere.

"Why the hell do you guys want Itachi now?" I asked steadying my balance.

"We lost a member or two and need new recruitments, un." Deidara said. I glared and attacked again. I created four dopple gangers and they went to work with the puppet and Hidan. I went to fight Deidara.

"Ready for a rematch?" I asked walking toward him. He narrowed his eyes and made a ton of bugs come at me. I did the signs for Chidori and ran at him. I went through the bugs and went to land my Chidori on his heart, but instead, I hit his shoulder. He went flying into a tree and he slowly got back up.

"Nice … hit, but mine is better, yeah." He said smirking. I looked at him confused, but then I felt it. I looked down at a big ass snake climbing up my fucking leg. My eyes widened and I looked at Deidara. He did the hand sign. My eyes went back to the snake as Deidara prepared to blow it up. There was nothing I could do.

"Katsu!" He smirked as the snake blew up, I tried to unlatch it, but it was no use. The snake blew up and I went through at least four trees. My dopple gangers disappeared and the Akatsuki looked at Deidara.

"Damn, that was a fucking huge ass bomb! What about keeping her alive?" Hidan asked. Deidara's eyes widened.

"She should still be alive, yeah." He said hesitantly. The puppet slowly made its way to me and so did the others. Kisame was still knocked out though.

I was on the ground with my leg all shredded up and blood came from my mouth. I slowly opened my eyes to see three Akatsuki.

"Told you! She is still alive, yeah!" Deidara said.

"Barely. We need to get her back to the base so Konan can heal her." The puppet said. Hidan went to pick me up, but my smirk stopped him.

"What the hell are you fucking smirking about?" The others looked at me.

"I never thought that … that … would work." I said.

"What worked?" The puppet asked. I looked at him and puffed. I never saw their reactions after that.

Before I attacked Kisame, I made the signs to create a shadow clone that would distract them long enough for me to go and get help. Three Akatsuki was too much to handle.

I was pretty close to the Uchiha residence, so I headed there. I was about one hundred yards to the Uchiha residence, when someone stood in front of me. I stopped dead in my tracks and tried to see who the person was, it was dark now and the person was barely visible. All I saw was the smile in the person's face. I glared.

"What do you want?" I asked. The person smirked and started to walk toward me. I took out a kunai and stood in a defensive position.

"What. Do. You. Want?" I asked slowly. The person stopped. I waited for the person to do something, but then the person vanished. I looked around me and tried to sense where the person was, but I couldn't. Then I felt a kunai against my throat. My eyes widened. I had never had someone sneak up on me like that since … since training. My eyes widened in realization. It couldn't be.

"Takeo?" I asked hesitantly. I felt him laugh.

"Do you know how easy it was to be the good guy and get Mist to trust me?" He asked. I tried to move, but the kunai was pressed against my throat harder, making me stop.

"Enough. You will send a message to the Uchihas."

"What would that be traitor?" I was beyond pissed. My own friend had gone and helped the Akatsuki … just like my clan had done.

"You are the message." He said as he stabbed my stomach. My eyes widened. The kunai he had was no ordinary kunai, no, it had a poison on it that was slow and non-traceable. The poison would attack my eyes. He had mentioned it briefly to me a while ago. It was his own creation that he was going to use against strong opponents to make their eyes unusable. I did not know of a cure. The only way I knew about it was that I felt the slimy coating on it. I fell to the ground breathing hard.

"Why?" I asked as he kneeled over me. He brushed the hair out of my face and smiled.

"You know, I began to like you. But you began to like that … that Uchiha! Even after you found out that he killed your clan!" My eyes widened. I did not find that out. I only thought it. The scroll I had was not specific enough, so I didn't know which village did it.

"How … did … you …. find out?" I weakly asked.

"Me? I was there and I helped the Akatsuki. I am older than you. Now, I would get help before you die. I don't want my message to not make it to its receiver." Then he was gone. I felt my stomach and the blood that was slowing making its way to the soil. I got to my knees and stopped for a breather.

"Come on … I can do this … come on stupid body … work." I tried to give myself pep talk, but it wasn't working. I grabbed a tree for support and I slowly got up. I put all my weight on the tree as I tried to get my breath back. I felt the poison spreading; it would reach my eyes in less than an hour. I tried to move my feet, but they wouldn't fucking work.

"Damn it … move … MOVE!" I said as I finally started to move. I got some speed, but I felt the blood flow out of my stomach and through my hand as I picked up speed.

After about twenty minutes just to get a hundred yards to the Uchiha residence, I made my way to the Uchiha house I was staying in. I walked up to the door and almost collapsed. As I made my way inside, I heard voices.

"I wonder where Takeo went." Nao said.

"I don't know, but he is your teammate. Our parents are going to be gone for a while on a mission by the way." Sasuke said.

"Really? Cool!" Nao said.

"What about Mika? Does she usually stay away this long?" Sasuke asked.

"No, normally she goes for about an hour, but not four." Nao said.

"We should go and look." I heard Itachi say.

"I think someone is getting a crush!" Nao said.

"Hn."

"Itachi, come on, we all know you have feelings for her. You might want to tell her before it's too late." Sasuke said. I had finally managed to open the door and I stepped inside.

"Takeo, finally! What took you so long?" Nao shouted from the kitchen. I couldn't make it that far. I fell to the floor.

"Help…" I said in a whisper, but they all heard it and they all came running into the hallway.

"What happened?" Nao asked as Itachi rolled me over to check my wound. Normally a small stomach wound wouldn't be too bad, but the poison made it infected and made it bleed much more than usual.

"…"

"Something is wrong, I can't heal it." Itachi said looking at me for answers.

"Poison…" Was all I got out before he picked me up and headed out the door with Sasuke and Nao right behind us.

"Sasuke, go and get Tsunade-sama." Itachi said. Sasuke nodded and puffed away. Nao was still next to Itachi and me.

"Mika, what happened?" He asked me. I couldn't answer, the pain was too much. I felt like every muscle was being torn apart inside me by two people who couldn't make up their minds about me. It came in waves, too. I would feel a rush of pain for about ten seconds and then a less pain for five. Every time the rush came at me, I gripped Itachi's shirt even more; every time I did this, Itachi would glance at me. My eyes were pinched shut from the pain though, so I only felt him looking at me … looking at me with worry.

"Make … it … stop …" I said. I knew I sounded like a child, but I was in so much pain. I never knew how much Takeo knew about poisons. I knew he was great in the lab, but not this great.

Itachi opened at door, to what I was guessing the hospital, and started to talk to someone.

"She needs medical attention now, she has been poisoned." I heard a woman move around.

"Follow me." Itachi started to walk behind the woman. After a minute, I was set on a bed and I felt people all around me.

"What happened?" I heard a familiar voice ask.

"Tsunade-sama, she has been poisoned." Nao said. I felt hands on my stomach; they were cooling, but the pain did not subside.

"I do not know what kind of poison this is. I will need to perform the Poison Extraction Technique. You two need to grab her and make sure she does not move. Now!" I felt hands on my arms and my legs.

"This is going to hurt." She said as I felt water enter me.

"Ahh!" I screamed and opened my eyes in pain. I felt the water move in me before it left. Then I felt it again, over and over and over again. It hurt, yes, but it seemed to be working, for the pain of the poison was dissipating. Then it stopped. I opened my eyes and looked at her weakly. I was going to pass out soon, her and I both knew it.

"The poison is mostly out. Rest and when you wake up we need to talk. You two are to stay here and let me know when she awakes. I sent Sasuke to search for Takeo." My eyes widened a little.

"…Wait…" I whispered. They all looked at me.

"What is it Mika?" The Hokage asked. I briefly looked at Nao with apologetic eyes and he narrowed his eyes.

"Get … Sasuke … back here." I said. Her eyebrows rose.

"Why? Don't you want us to find your teammate?" The Hokage asked me.

"He … was … the one … who attacked … me." He said. Her eyes widened.

"What? He would never do that!" Nao said. I looked over at him and he realized I was not lying by the look in my eyes.

"Why would he do that?" He asked to no one in particular.

"I will send someone after Sasuke. Do you know why?" The Hokage asked me before I passed out. I looked at Itachi and she followed my eyes.

"Itachi? He attacked you because of Itachi?" She asked not believing me.

"He … helped … the … Akatsuki … there … were four … they … want … Itachi …" I said. Their eyes all widened a little.

"They want Itachi? And there were four! Get some sleep, we'll talk more after you have had some sleep ." She said as she left with Nao and Itachi. I passed out then, the pain was gone and I closed my eyes feeling very betrayed … again.

* * *

It's sad that she keeps getting betrayed ... but you know the saying, right? What goes around, comes around. I wonder what shall happen next? Actually I really don't know ... I haven't written it yet. ^-^ I hope it was okay! R&R&F please! I would realllllly like reviews! Thanks! ^-^


	9. Forgiveness

**A/N: **This chapter is mainly full of information and whatnot, but there is something … else too. ^-^ umm … I hope it's okay! I know this chapter is a little boring, but it is important and next chapter will get better! R&R&F please! Thanks! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **The writer of Naruto … is amazing! I don't know how the writer thought of the plot line, the characters, and everything else! I am not that good, I am good at writing stories, but that is reallllly good! So, I do not own Naruto!

"_Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past to make a hope for our future." – A quote that goes with this chapter beautifully! _

"I can't believe this is happening." I heard someone say as I slowly woke up.

"Hn."

"Can you at least pretend to be worried? You should have seen your face when Mika wouldn't heal; I know that you care for her. Tell her, it might be too late later." I heard Sasuke say. Itachi worried about me? It was possible, but I wouldn't believe it until he said so. I continued to be "asleep" for a little longer to hear what else they would say. I heard a door open and at least three people come in.

"How is she doing?" I heard Kakashi ask.

"She will be fine." Itachi answered.

"Sweet! That means you can ask her out!" Shisui said. I could feel the glare that Itachi gave him and it did shut him up for the time being.

"Have you told her about Takeo?" Nao said. 'What about Takeo? That he was a betrayer? I already knew that!' I thought.

"No. She still has to wake up." Sasuke said.

"Maybe we shouldn't tell her, she might be more upset and decide to go after the Akatsuki by herself." 'What the hell were they talking about?'

"No, when she finds out on her own, she will be angry at us and making her less likely to work well with us." Itachi said. I was so lost.

"I still can't believe Takeo betrayed us. I bet it was a huge hit for Mika since her family did the same thing." Nao said with some sorrow in his voice. I felt everyone look at me.

"At least we don't have to deal with him anymore." Shisui said. 'What! Why didn't we have to deal with him anymore?'

"Yeah, I am glad the Akatsuki didn't need him anymore and took care of him. He couldn't have possibly believed that they wouldn't kill him after he helped out and then got find out. He was useless." Sasuke said. 'He was dead? I wanted to confront him, to make him pay! Damn. That also means that the Akatsuki have planned their attack already and will move soon. This is not good.' I thought. My heart was beating very fast now and I knew at least one of them knew I was listening, but for some reason the person wasn't saying anything.

"We should be focusing on the Akatsuki and when they are going to attack. We need a new action plan and we need knew defenses that they don't know about." Itachi said. 'Finally, someone who knew what to do!' I thought.

"The Naras are working out the plan as we speak. Nao and I have talked to the Hokage and she said once Mika up and ready, that Itachi Mika, and I will go set knew defenses. Nao, you and Sasuke will go with Shisui and you guys will make sure the teams know what to do." Kakashi said.

"Hai." Everyone said falling into silence.

"Why did you guys lie?" Sasuke asked.

"What are you talking about?" Shisui asked.

"I heard you all talking after Mika left and how you guys did massacre her family." Sasuke said. 'Takeo was right…'

"Itachi, Shisui, Kakashi, is this true?" Nao asked.

"It's complicated Nao." Kakashi said.

"Well, I think you should make it uncomplicated. Now." Nao said. 'Thanks Nao.' I thought hoping they would explain. I heard Shisui sigh.

"Yes, we did, but we only did it because it was our mission."

"Who ordered you guys?" Nao asked.

"The Mizukage and the Hokage." Itachi said.

"Excuse me?"

"When we found out about that the Karasu clan was leaking intelligence to the Akatsuki, we were sent by the Hokage to 'deal with the problem' because it would help business in the future with the Mist. When we got there, we went to the Mizukage and told him. He decided that he would use Konoha's help to 'deal with the problem' and soon after, the Akatsuki attacked." Kakashi said. Nao was quiet for a second, but when he spoke, he was pissed.

"Which one of you decided to leave Mika alive?" Nao asked. Then silence. No one talked for a few minutes. I couldn't see their faces, though, so I couldn't tell if they were glaring at anyone or not.

"Who!" Nao asked louder. The answer was one I was not expecting.

"I did."

"Why didn't you kill her? Do you know what she went through after the massacre!" Nao asked Itachi.

"I-" he started, but Na cut him off.

"No, I will tell you. I knew her from the academy and we were best friends; before the massacre, she was a bubbly person, she was nice, energetic, and a very skilled shinobi. She was a great friend that worried about people who were sick for a day. After the massacre, everything changed. She sat in the back corner of class, she wouldn't speak to anyone, and she didn't smile for a long time. She was sad and I, her best friend, couldn't get her to talk. After Zurui died and Katsumi-sama became the new Mizukage, she still didn't talk. Katsumi-sama knew about the massacre and how Mika still stayed at her compound, so Katsumi-sama gave her a room in the Mizukage building. Mika, after about two months, started to work her ass off. She trained day and night and I saw her change. Her skill became great and she finally started to talk to me more. She told me how she still had nightmares and how she saw the person who looked at her before turning to kill her family. You were not there to see the hurt and the agony she went through! You better have a good fucking reason for letting her go through all of that!" Nao said. 'Wow.' Was the only thing I could think. There was silence after, but Itachi broke it.

"She was innocent. She did not know of her family's involvement with helping the Akatsuki, so I did not see why we needed to kill her too."

"That's it? That's the only reason why you left her alive to relive the massacre over and over again!" Nao asked.

"Yes."

"Why did you lie to her? I know you were the one who ripped the scroll that Mia read. Why did you let her read the scroll if you were planning on lying to her?" Nao asked.

"You let her go into the records room?" Shisui asked astonished. I heard Itachi sigh with annoyance.

"I did not lie to her; I did not kill a single member of her clan. After I hit her neck nerve and made sure she was asleep and turned around, Kakashi and Shisui had already done their jobs. We left afterwards." Itachi said. I had had enough. I was pissed, no, I was beyond pissed, I was livid. I opened my eyes and saw Itachi to my right. I jumped at him and pushed him to the wall and put my kunai, the one I had had under my pillow, on his neck. I was glaring at him with everything I had. I heard a few gasps, but I was only paying attention to Itachi. He was calm, for he didn't have his Sharingan showing at the moment.

"Mika, enough." Kakashi said.

"Enough? Fuck off Kakashi, you have no right to tell what to do. You gave up that right when you killed my clan." He was silent after that.

"You … you left me there! You made me go to where my family was going to die and you made me fucking pass out! Do you want to know what I woke up to?" I asked. He didn't say anything, so I decided that was a yes.

"I woke up on the ground and was looked to see my family dead! There was blood everywhere. I crawled to where my parents were and I saw them with their eyes wide open and dead! I passed out because of the fucking shock and I woke up in a hospital. Every minute of every fucking day I saw you guys killing them, over and over and over again! And by the way, closing my eyes only made things worse!" I said dropping the kunai and stepping back as the tears welled in my eyes. Itachi continued to stare at me and I stared at him, not glaring.

I was pissed that they killed my clan, but I had expected it, right? I was pissed, yes, but I was willing to forgive. I would still hurt inside, but eventually everything would work out. As I stared in his eyes, I saw something I thought I wouldn't see: sadness, empathy, and … love? My eyes softened a little and I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted someone to hold me as I cried, like I did with my mom when I was young and I accidently got myself with a kunai as I practiced in the backyard. I let the tears run down my cheeks and I clung onto Itachi. He held me and I stuffed my face into his front shirt.

"Umm … We'll leave you two alone." Sasuke said.

"What? I want to-" Shisui started, but he was pushed out of the room by Kakashi, followed by Sasuke and Nao, leaving Itachi and me alone. We, somehow, ended up on the floor and I was in Itachi's lap. He held me as I continued to cry, but after a few minutes, I stopped crying.

"I forgive you." I whispered. I felt Itachi stiffen. He pulled me away from him a little and looked at my eyes.

"What?" He was uncertain and I think he didn't think I would forgive him. I gave him a small smile.

"I. Forgive. You." I said. His eyes widened a little.

"Why?" How could I tell him that I understood that it was his mission and that I … loved him? I hugged him and I put my head in his shirt.

"It was a mission and you were only following orders. And … and I …. I … love you." I said through his shirt. He pulled me away from his shirt again and looked at me with kind eyes.

"You do not know how sorry I felt, feel, about it." He said. I smiled.

"I do know. I saw it in your eyes when you turned around." I said. His eyes widened, but then I saw something that I hoped I would see again. He smiled.

"You are very observant." He said. I laughed.

"It's a gift." I said joking. We stared at each other for a few minutes, but then we leaned closer together. I closed my eyes as our mouths met. His lips were warm and welcoming. Kissing was a whole new thing for me, but I think Itachi knew and he led me through it. After a moment, I pulled back for air. We were breathing harder than normal as we tried to get our breathing to go back to normal. He leaned forward to my ear and said something I was hoping he would say.

"I love you too." I hugged him and he hugged back. I was so happy that I almost forgot about the Akatsuki. The thought of them taking Itachi made me stiffen. He pulled back and looked at me with a little worry in his eyes.

"I was just thinking about the Akatsuki and how they want you as a new member and will not stop until they either die or they get you." He nodded in understanding. We both stood up.

"We should go and set the new defenses." I said walking to the door, but Itachi stopped me. I looked back at him in confusion. He looked vary amused as he looked at my body. I looked down confused, but then I blushed realizing that I was in a hospital gown. He walked passed me.

"I'll meet you outside." He said and I swore I heard a small laugh, but I smiled and got dressed. Things were tuning out for the better. The only problem left was the Akatsuki now that Takeo was dead. 'I wonder how he died.' I thought as I finished getting dressed. I looked at the small scar that was on my stomach from where Takeo stabbed me. I wanted revenge, but having him dead sufficed.

I started to walk to the door to get on with the mission with one though on my mind, 'the Akatsuki would not get Itachi, no, over my dead body.'

* * *

No reviews still ... v-v ... Anyway, I hope it was okay and not tooooo mushy or anything. I am not too good at the whole 'Love you' thing, so yeah. Umm ... it was a shorter chapter, but it wasn't too short, right? I hope it was okay! R&R&F please! I wonder what will happen ... to both Itachi and Mika ... who knows! ^-^


	10. An Uchiha symbol and a crow

**A/N: **As I promised, this is a longer chapter! I think it's one of my longest for this story, actually! Now, I do have to point of a few things. Firstly, **Warning!** It's not too bad, but there is some … fluff in this chapter. It's not bad at all, some kissing and whatnot, but I think all of you should know. Secondly and lastly, sorry for any grammar issues! ^-^ I hope it's okay and I hope I am not too mushy or too hurried or too anything! Enjoy and R&R&F please!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto … unfortunately! ^-^

"_Hey-o, here comes the danger up in this club. When we get started, man, we ain't going to stop. We gonna turn it out 'till it gets too hot. Everybody sing hey-o. Tell'em turn it up 'till they can't no more. Let's turn it up 'till they can't no more. Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball. This is you last warning, a courtesy call." – Courtesy Call, but Thousand Foot Krutch. I found the whole warning thing pertinent to this chapter. ^-^_

I walked out of the room to see Kakashi, Itachi, Shisui, Sasuke, and Nao talking. When I walked out, they all looked at me waiting for my reaction. 'I guess Itachi didn't tell them I forgive them.' I sighed and walked up to them.

"So, how are you feeling?" Nao asked me with hesitation. I looked at him and smiled.

"Thanks for the speech you gave about me." He looked confused. I laughed and looked at all of them.

"I forgot to tell you guys … I kind of pretended to sleep while you all talked about me … and Takeo." Their eyes widened a little … except Itachi's. 'I guess he's the one that knew.' I thought smiling.

"You … you listened to us?" Shisui asked. I nodded.

"How couldn't I? You all were talking in my room." I said.

"So … what are you going to do now?" Nao asked. I was confused, what would I do besides continue with the mission?

"I don't understand, what else would I do besides continue with the mission?"

"We all thought that you would want to get someone else from Mist to help since you … you know the truth." Kakashi said. I looked at all of them in the eyes and smirked.

"Why would I do that? I want to finish the mission." I said. They were still confused about the smirk though. I was planning revenge on them, but a friendly revenge, like sparing them and winning or doing something to them while they slept.

"Are you sure? We don't want to die in the field because you think that's justice for us massacring your family." Shisui said.

"You know before when I said I wouldn't let another person who I cared about die? I meant it then and I still do. You may have killed my family and I am kind of mad, but it was your mission. You followed orders and I cannot, will not, hate you guys for it. I … forgive you guys." I said smiling. Kakashi smiled, from what I could tell because he had his mask still on, Shisui smiled, Sasuke smiled, and Nao … he looked … pissed, but he hid it with a small smile. Itachi already knew, but I still shot him a look. His face showed indifference, but his eyes showed happiness.

"Mika, can I talk to you for a moment?" Nao said. I looked at him and nodded. We walked a little ways down the hall so the others wouldn't hear us and I turned toward Nao. His back was to the others so he wouldn't show his emotions to them.

"You are mad." I stated. He glared.

"I am more than mad, I am pissed. They killed your family and you are letting them get away with it!" He said in a whisper. I glared.

"It was a mission. We kill people every mission we go on. It's a part of a shinboi's life!"

"We kill people who deserve to die, we kill the guilty, not the innocent! They killed your family for kami's sake!"

"My family wasn't innocent, they helped the Akatsuki and they paid the price. Even if they weren't killed by Konoha, the Mist's penalty for treason is death! The result would have been the same!" I said raising my voice a little. Nao narrowed his eyes.

"You aren't just going to let them get away with it are you?" I glared. He didn't sound like Nao, no, he sounded like Takeo. Nao was the one who liked to play jokes and not be too serious about his job. Takeo was the one who took everything serious, the one who would yell at Nao for joking around, and the one who wouldn't let Konoha shinobi get away with my clan's massacre. But Takeo was dead; maybe he had too much influence on Nao.

"Yes, I will. I'll pay them back, but in a friendly, funny kind of way. Now, if you are done, we both have work to do. I thought I could count on you, but maybe I was wrong, like I was with Takeo." Nao narrowed his eyes and caught my arm as I tried to walk by. Everyone was looking at us now and I narrowed my eyes at Nao.

"Let go of my arm please." I said. He let go, but as I walked away, I rethought about what he whispered.

"If you won't get revenge, I will for you." He wasn't actually going to kill them was he? He wouldn't. I walked up to everyone with Nao next to me.

"You guys okay?" Sasuke asked. I smiled at them.

"We're fine, let's get to work." I said as I made eye contact with Itachi. He narrowed his eyes. I nodded slightly toward him just so only he would know that everything wasn't okay. He nodded back, silently saying we would talk later.

"Alright, Itachi, Mika, we need to go reset everything. Good luck you three." Kakashi said to Shisui, Sasuke, and Nao.

"You too." Shisui said to us as they left. Kakashi, Itachi, and I puffed outside and started to make our way to the surrounding area around the village.

"How is your scar?" Kakashi suddenly asked.

"It's fine, I don't feel a thing." He nodded.

"Good." I narrowed my eyes.

"Why? Should I be feeling something?"

"No, but the Hokage says that she doesn't know what the kind of poison is and doesn't know if there is any side effects from the treatment that you got." I nodded.

"Takeo made it a while ago when we were back in Mist. He said it was worst case scenario. I never knew how lethal it was, I only know that it attacks the eyes." Kakashi and Itachi's eyes widened a little.

"I hope he didn't give the recipe to the Akatsuki." Kakashi said. My eyes widened. If they got Itachi with it, he would, eventually, lose his ability to use his Sharingan … for good. I glanced at him to see concentration in his face. We had to make sure that never happened.

We took down all the traps we set and put up different ones. I put out more crows too, just in case. Resetting the traps and crows only took an hour and after we did our jobs, we headed back. It was close to nightfall and it was getting dark out. We made it safely in Konoha and made our way to the Hokage's office. Once there, we knocked, as always.

"Come in." We walked in to see Shisui, Sasuke, Nao, and Shikamaru.

"I assume it went well?" She asked looking up from her paperwork.

"Hai." We all said together. She nodded and then looked at me.

"I understand that you know the truth. Will you be able to complete this mission looking after your team and mine?"

"I will." She waited a minute longer to see if I would change my mind, but I didn't, so she nodded.

"Alright, good. Now, back to business. Shikamaru, have you come up with a different action plan?"

"Hai, We will have teams stationed one hundred yards outside Konoha and every twenty yards closer to Konoha to make sure we know when the Akatsuki have arrived. They will be spread out at the north, east, west, and south gates. We will still have Genin, and Chuunin help the citizens though. Jounin and ANBU will be waiting at the gates for the Akatsuki and we will go from there." We all nodded.

"Alright, I will notify everyone at once. All of you wait for the call. I hope it won't happen anytime soon, but we have to be prepared for everything. Dismissed." We all left. Kakashi and Shikamaru puffed away, leaving Itachi, Shisui, Sasuke, Nao, and me to walk to the Uchiha residence.

"When do you think they will attack?" Shisui asked. None of us knew the answer to that, but we all hoped that they would give up. That was never going to happen though.

"How about we all make a bet." I suddenly said. They looked at me and I smirked again.

"Do we want to know?" Sasuke asked. I laughed.

"The winner gets one thing or favor from each person here." I said. Everyone seemed to contemplate it.

"I am in." Sasuke said smiling.

"Me too." Shisui said. That only left Itachi and Nao.

"I know I will regret it, but sure." Nao said.

"Hn." I took that at a yes. I smiled.

"Alright, I say within two days." The Akatsuki weren't known for patience, so I thought what the heck.

"I four days." Shisui said.

"Five." Said Nao.

"Seven." Said Sasuke.

"Three." Itachi said. The bets were set and all were within a week.

"I just hope we are all alive afterwards to carry out with the bet." Nao suddenly said. I looked at him in astonishment. He expected some of us to die … but he was right. This was the Akatsuki, they were very powerful and they all were attacking. It would be the battle that would go down in history and some of us would die.

We made it to the Uchiha residence and we all walked to Itachi, Shisui, and Sasuke's house. We walked inside to see Mikoto and Fugaku with their gear on.

"Hello you guys, we are going to help the Hokage with a few things. We'll be back later tonight. Dinner is in the fridge if you are hungry." Mikoto said walking passed us. Fugaku didn't say a word as he left too.

"I am not hungry, I am going to bed." Nao said going into his room. I stared after him, he was always hungry. 'What's his deal?' I thought a little worried about my teammate.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I am starved!" Shisui said getting the food out. I laughed a little as Sasuke followed with Itachi behind him.

"I'm going to check on Nao, save some for me!" I yelled down to them as I headed for the stairs.

"Hurry up or it will be gone!" Shisui said laughing. I ignored him as I got to Nao's door. I knocked and he let me in. I sat on his chair that he had and he sat on his bed.

"Yes?" He asked a little pissed. I sighed.

"Are you still mad about me forgiving them?"

"No, I am over it."

"Then why are you-"

"You like him, right?" I glared. What did me liking Itachi have to do with anything!

"And if I do?" He looked at me with a hateful glare that surprised me.

"Damn it Mika, you don't get it at all." He said standing by his window.

"No I don't! Why the hell don't you explain it to me!" I said standing up next to him, making him turn to look at me. He was pissed. Then he did something I was not expecting at all. He kissed me. I pushed him off me.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked. He shook his head and said nothing.

"What is wrong with my fucking team! First, Takeo betrayed us, me, and now you are fucking jealous!" I said stepping away from him. He looked at me with anger.

"What about you? You are forgiving the fucking murderers that killed you family!" I glared, he was back to this … again!

"Drop it; you will not change my mind. I forgive them and yes, and yes, I love Itachi! If you don't like it, that sucks, but we are teammates, we are supposed to look after each other and help each other! I don't know who the hell to trust anymore, not even you." I said. He glared.

"If you don't trust me, that is your problem, but if you bring you little 'love sickness' out on the field, I can't promise if I will have his back. Now get out." I was stunned. He wasn't going to help Itachi if he was in trouble!

"I swear, you have turned into Takeo." I said as I left the room with one last look at Nao, but what it was … was not what I was hoping to see. I was hoping to see shock that might get him back to himself, but no, he smirked at me. I suddenly wasn't hungry. I shut his door and walked into the kitchen and sipped some tea.

"How'd it go with Nao?" Shisui asked between bites. I shook my head.

"Don't talk with your mouth open. And I … how did Takeo die?" I asked suddenly. They looked at me.

"Why?" Itachi asked. I looked at him.

"Please, just tell me." He narrowed his eyes, but he told me.

"We don't know." My eyes widened. Huh?

"What do you mean 'you don't know'?"

"Well, we saw a lot of blood, but no body. We identified it as Takeo's blood and no one could live with that much blood loss, so we put him as dead." Blood, but no body; a body can sustain an enormous amount of blood loss and still stay alive long enough to get help for so long. He could still be alive, but the chance was minute.

"Where did you find the blood?" I asked.

"In the training field on our property." That was the field where he attacked me. It couldn't be a coincidence … could it?

"I wonder who killed him." I said. They all looked at me.

"We don't know, but we assume the Akatsuki. Sasuke found it trying to look for Takeo after he attacked you. Maybe the Akatsuki were pissed that he let you get away." That made sense. I nodded.

"Alright, thanks." I said.

"Sure, but why did you want to know?" Sasuke asked.

"Just something Nao and I talked about." I said sipping my tea. They nodded. I glanced at Itachi and saw him staring at me. I blushed a little remembering the gown incident and the kiss. He smirked at my blush and I glared lightly at him.

"You two want to tell us something?" Shisui said with a smirk. I looked at him and Sasuke, they both were smirking.

"Hn." Itachi said as he continued to eat. I smirked at them and got up, making them all look at me. Before I left to go to my room, I did say one thing.

"Hn." I saw Itachi smirk and Shisui and Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction and look at Itachi and me just before I got out of their line of sight. I walked to my room and closed the door. I lied on my back on my bed and sighed in contentment. Itachi felt the same toward me! I smiled at the thought of the kiss. It was a great kiss. It was warm, sweet, and slow. I just hoped that the Akatsuki would leave Konoha alone, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. I took a long shower as I stared at my scar and thought about Takeo. We were so close for a while. We weren't the best of friends like Nao and I were, but we worked great together. We met when we got assigned different teams for Jounin. I don't know why we didn't keep the same teams, but we didn't and that was that.

I sighed as I shut off the water and dried off. I got dressed in my pajamas and walked out of the bathroom. I looked around my room and noticed something was off … I couldn't tell what though. I walked to my bed and sat down as I brushed my hair. I looked around again to see if I could find out what was different, when I saw it. On my pillow was a necklace. I put down my brush and picked up the necklace. My eyes widened when I saw what it was. I smiled. It was a black crow with a small engraving it. It was small, but I could tell what it was. It was an Uchiha symbol. I smiled and put it on. I got up from my bed and made my way to Itachi's door. It was pretty late, so I kept quiet to make sure I didn't wake him or anyone else.

I opened the door slowly and peaked in to see if he was up or not. He was on his back with his eyes closed. I opened the door just enough to slip into his room and I closed it slowly and quietly. I tiptoed to his bed and stared for a moment. He was so beautiful sleeping. His breathing was slow, but deliberate. I wanted to thank him for the necklace, but it took a moment for me to think about how to. I slowly knelt down to give him a soft kiss on his lips, but very softly so I wouldn't wake him. As I kissed him, I closed my eyes for a moment and I opened them as I was about to pull away, but when I opened my eyes … I met obsidian. My eyes widened as I was about to jump from surprise, but Itachi grabbed me and pulled me so I was on my back and he was on his elbow looking at me. He had amusement in his eyes and I was still surprised as hell. I got up on my right elbow as I looked at him with a small blush.

"That was uncalled for." I said with a smile. He leaned in and kissed me for a second and pulled away, leaving me wanting for more.

"So was you sneaking into my room and giving me a kiss." I blushed, but then made it go away thinking about his gift he gave me.

"I wanted to thank you for this." I said pulling the necklace up into both our view of vision.

"Hn." He said as he kissed me again, but this time, it was longer. His lips were warm and moist and I didn't want to leave them, but my air supply was limited and I needed to breathe. I pulled away again and tried to get my breath back.

"I know how you can thank me." He said. I raised my eyebrow in wonder and he smiled.

"Sleep with me." My eyes widened. He wasn't serious was he? I was only sixteen and he was about a year or two older than me! He saw how worried I was and he laughed a little. I was so confused, what was so funny?"

"What?" I asked hesitantly. He looked at me with amusement.

"Not like that. Sleep in my bed tonight." Oh! He just wanted to sleep! I blushed in embarrassment and hid my face in his pillow. His pillow was so soft and it smelled like … like … strawberries? I suddenly looked at him and he raised his eyebrow this time.

"You use strawberry shampoo?" I asked laughing a little bit. He glared and lied down on his back without saying anything. I laughed a little as I snuggled into him and placed my hand on his stomach. 'Damn, he has a six pack.' I laughed at my thought, but let it go as Itachi wrapped his arm around me. I was so comfortable that I was beginning to fall asleep.

"Thanks for the necklace." I whispered as I was close to falling asleep.

"You are welcome." He said quietly. I fell asleep soon after thinking about how I was going to steal his shampoo because it smelled amazing!

I slowly woke up, feeling warm and comfortable. I kept my eyes shut for another moment listening to a rhythm I was listening to, trying to place it. Then I figured it out. It was a heartbeat. I slowly opened my eyes as I realized I was clutching someone's shirt and there was a hand around my waist. I looked up to see obsidian eyes looking at me with amusement. I smiled and he smiled back.

"Morning." I said.

"Morning." We continued to look at each other, not wanting to get up, but we had to. I put my head back in his chest again to get smell him again, before I started to get up. He smelled really good; a mix between strawberries and cinnamon. I stood up and stretched and looked back at Itachi to see him sitting up with amusement written on his face.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Nothing." I glared and walked up to him and he just looked at me as I approached.

"Nothing, huh? Well, if you don't tell me … you won't get another kiss for a week." I said backing up a bit smiling. He narrowed his eyes and walked towards me. I backed up until I tripped on his rug.

"Ah!" I said as I grabbed onto Itachi's wrist to help me not fall. He pulled me close to him and made it so our mouths were an inch apart.

"I don't think you will follow through with that threat." He said.

"Why not?" I felt him smile as I looked at his eyes.

"You like it too much." 'Damn him for knowing.' I thought as I put my lips on his, kissing him and not caring if I didn't follow through with my threat. If I didn't kiss him for a week, I would be suffering more than him! I felt him smirk as he kissed back and after a minute we parted for air. He looked happy and put space between us. I glared with a smile.

"So what was so funny?" I asked laughing a bit.

"I was thinking about how you thought I meant something different last night." He said with a smirk. I blushed full on remembering that fact. I shook my head and headed for the door.

"Yeah, yeah! But, thank you." I said, meaning both the necklace and being able to sleep in his bed with him. He nodded at both meanings and I shut the door. I walked to my door, only to be stopped by someone speaking.

"Have a nice night?" I turned around to see Nao. I glared.

"Yes, I did." He glared and walked passed me. I shook my head, jealous bastard. I got dressed and headed down stairs to eat breakfast. When I got in the kitchen, everyone was already there.

"My mom and dad left for a meeting." Sasuke said noticing my glance around the room. I nodded to him and grabbed an apple and some tea.

"So what are we doing today since we don't really have anything to do?" Shisui asked. Everyone thought about his question and I thought of the perfect thing. I smirked, getting everyone's attention.

"Do we want to know?" I glared at Sasuke.

"I say we go to the training field and spar."

"Hell yes!" Shisui said. I looked at Sasuke and he nodded.

"Sounds good to me."

"How about you Nao, Itachi?" I asked.

"Sure." Nao said. I shook my head at him and looked at Itachi to see him staring intently at me. I almost blushed, but I was getting better at not blushing and I knew Itachi knew now too.

"Hn." I nodded.

"Sounds like a plan!" I said.

"You seem overly happy this morning, are you okay Mika?" Sasuke asked. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Um … yeah, why wouldn't I be okay?" I asked. Nao narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything.

"Just wondering, normally you are still tired in the morning and you don't say much." I shrugged.

"Who knows, maybe I had a great night of sleep." I said smiling. I heard Nao grunt and I looked over at him.

"Have something to say Nao?" I asked, he looked at me and glanced at Itachi. He stood up and left the kitchen, but not without saying something.

"Count me out of sparring." Then he was gone. He went out the front door to who knows where. I shook my head.

"What's his deal?" Shisui asked taking a bite of his apple.

"Nothing." I said dropping the subject and taking a bite of my apple.

After we were done eating, we went to the training field on the Uchiha property … where Takeo attacked me after I fought the Akatsuki next to the small lake. We stopped by the lake and looked at each other.

"Who is fighting whom?" Sasuke asked. Hmm … I hadn't thought about that.

"I, honestly, have no clue! Umm … okay, I'll pick a number and whomever is the closest gets to fight me. The other two fill fight each other, okay?" I asked. They all nodded and I thought of a number … hmm … how about number two? The same amount of days I picked the Akatsuki to arrive.

"Alright, pick a number between one and ten." I said.

"Nine." Said Sasuke. 'Not even close!' I thought looking at Shisui. He thought for a moment.

"Umm … three." He said. 'Wow, he is almost spot on!'

"Two." Itachi said. My eyes widened and he smirked.

"How the hell Itachi?" I asked causing Sasuke and Shisui to look at each other.

"Hn." I shook my head and looked at Shisui and Sasuke.

"Looks like you two are sparring each other. The number was two."

"Have fun you two and remember, no killing each other!" Sasuke said walking after Shisui as they walked a bit away so we all could have room. Itachi and I had some space between us as we just stared at us.

"Ready for a rematch?" I asked with a smile. He smirked and puffed. I glared and made my eyes go black. Let the fun begin. I sensed for him and noticed a signature above me. I moved out of the way as two kunai hit where I was at. I threw a few kunai at Itachi and he deflected them. He landed and I attacked. I'd hit, he'd block, I'd hit, he'd block, and it went like that for a while before I find an opening. I smirked and he raised his eyebrows. I didn't say anything as I hit his stomach and he went flying onto the lake. I smiled in triumph. He glared and came at me. This time, I puffed. I went to the tree line and watched him as I sent three dopple gangers. He easily got them and the puffed away. I ran at him as he was facing the opposite direction. He, unfortunately, noticed me, and turned around in time to stop my fist with his hand. He then threw me onto the lake. I stood up and saw him waiting for me. I narrowed my eyes and I ran at him. I was getting ready to punch and he was getting ready to kick me. As I was about to punch him and avoid his kick, I noticed something. My eyes narrowed as I got distracted and missed my punch. Itachi's kick, though, made direct contact with my stomach … on the scar. I went flying into a tree by Shisui and Sasuke. They stopped their little fight and ran toward me as I slowly stood up. Itachi was there in a flash to help me up.

"Sheesh Itachi, I didn't actually think that you would go all out on her." Sasuke said.

"She knew I was about to kick, but she did not avoid it." He said.

"You okay Mika?" Shisui asked. They all waited for my reply, but I did not reply. I was looking at the area where I saw something. They noticed my stare and looked at where I was looking. I slowly made my way to the spot in the trees opposite of where we were.

"Mika, what's up?" Sasuke asked me. I stopped in the middle of the field and looked at Itachi, Sasuke, and Shisui.

"Sorry, I should have avoided the kick, but I got distracted. And I am okay." I said as I continued to walk with them next to me.

"What distracted you?" Itachi asked. Honestly, I did not know. As we got to the trees, something flew at me. I put my arm up and I noticed it was one of my crows. I narrowed my eyes.

"Is that your crow?" Sasuke asked me. I nodded.

"I need silence for a moment. He's able to show me what he saw." They all nodded and I concentrated on what my crow saw.

I was looking at some kind of forest waiting for something to happen. Then I started to fly to a noise not too far. I landed on a branch as I saw at least six people walking toward me. They were talking, but I could not hear them. Then they suddenly stopped walking and looked at me. I tried to fly away, but they threw a net and caught me.

"It's a surveillance crow." One of them said.

"Let's kill it." A different one said.

"No, I have a better idea. Let's give it a message." Another one said.

"Tell whomever is your owner that no matter what, we will get Itachi. Be ready by sundown, we are coming." They then let me go and I started to fly away toward Konoha. It took me six hours to fly to Konoha … so in about five hours they would arrive.

I let my crow go and I started to fall, but Itachi caught me. That took a lot of concentration and some chakra, but the weakness only lasted about five or ten minutes.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked as Itachi held me up. I nodded.

"I will be in a few minutes."

"What did you see?" Itachi asked. I slowly put all my weight on my feet and I looked at all three of them.

"They are on their way." Their eyes narrowed.

"How long?" Shisui asked.

"Four or five hours at most. We need to tell the Hokage and get our plan into action." I said. They all nodded and we headed our way toward Konoha. We ran through the village and made our way to the office. We, however, did not knock, we walked in. The Hokage looked up, pissed that we did not knock.

"Why the hell-"

"They are coming." I stated, shutting her up. Her eyes narrowed.

"How long?"

"At most … four or five hours." I said. She nodded.

"Shizune, get in here!" Shizune ran passed us.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"Call everyone. We are at war." Shizune looked at us and I nodded. Her eyes widened and she ran out of the room. The Hokage stood up and looked out the window.

"Mika, where is Nao?" I narrowed my eyes. I hadn't seen him since this morning when he walked out.

"I don't know."

"Go find him. Once you have found him, go to the south gate, forty yards out. Itachi and Kakashi will be there waiting. You three will then stay there and fight any Akatsuki that come. If there are too many for you guys to handle, send a chakra wave out and you will get help. Sasuke and Shisui, you two will be at the twenty yard mark in the south gate and wait for a distress call, do not go in to help unless you know they are in need of it or they send help. If you just barge in, you might spook them and cause more harm than good. You will also be working with Nao when Mika finds him. Dismissed." Shisui and Sasuke puffed as Itachi and I walked out of the Hokage's office.

We started to walk to the south gate, but I was heading to the Uchiha house to see if Nao was there. As I was about to go my separate way from Itachi, I stopped and grabbed his arm. He looked at me.

"Be careful." I said. He didn't answer, but he kissed me. I kissed back for more than a minute. I was out of air, but I didn't want to stop. He pulled back this time and we both were able to breathe again.

"You too." I hugged him and then looked at him one last time before I went to find Nao.

"I love you, Itachi." I said holding the necklace. He smiled.

"I love you too," Then he was gone. I turned around and ran toward the house. 'Come on Nao, please be there so I can go back to Itachi and make sure he doesn't get captured or …. Killed.' I thought as I made my way up the stairs to Nao's room. I walked in to see no one there.

"Damn it! Where the hell are you?" I asked to no one as I headed out to search around the compound. He was nowhere to be found! I ran down the village streets to see everyone evacuated to a safer spot where the Akatsuki could not find or go to. I didn't see Nao anywhere! I was about to give up and go to the south gate, but then I felt Nao's chakra signature behind me. I stopped running and turned around.

"There you are! Where the hell have you been?" I asked him as I walked up to him. He smirked. I stopped walking.

"I have been … around." That voice … no … It couldn't be …

"How? There was blood, a lot of it!" I said.

"So? I faked the blood. I hid and waited for Nao's nightly walk and when he was walking, I killed him and took on his form. I got help from the Akatsuki, of course. They did a pretty good job, don't you think?" Takeo asked me as he let the jutsu go. I couldn't believe that he had tricked me for so long!

"Why, what's in it for you?" I asked. He smirked.

"Me? I get to see Itachi leave and I get to see you suffer!" I glared.

"What the hell did I ever do to you?"

"You fell in love with Itachi and you ignored my feelings!"

"I am sorry for not liking you, you traitor, but if you don't get how much I love him, than you know nothing!" I was pissed. He tricked everyone and helped the Akatsuki while doing it. They knew our knew our plans and they knew our new everything.

"What are the Akatsuki planning on doing to Itachi?" I asked. He smirked at my question.

"They will ask him to join the Akatsuki."

"And if he refuses?" I saw the evil look in his eyes.

"They will kill him. They have had enough of wasting their time on him and they will make it painful, so very painfully slow." He said walking toward me. My eyes widened. 'No!'

"And you, Mika, won't get to say goodbye." He said as he pulled out a kunai. I glared. No, I was not going to sit back and let the Akatsuki kill Itachi! I swore I wouldn't let another person I cared about die and I already was doing a bad job at keeping the promise. Nao was dead and Itachi was next if I didn't go and help. Itachi was strong, yes, but against four or six Akatsuki? It was impossible.

"Takeo, I am sorry about everything, but you can still help Konoha! You can-"

"No. I have had enough. You see, the crow that you had for surveillance was a little … trick. The Akatsuki should be by Itachi right about … now." My eyes widened. I tried to run by Takeo, but he stood in front of me.

"Tsk, tsk, you should know that it's not that easy. By the time we finish out little fight, Itachi will be dead."

I glared as I felt more than one strong chakra signature at the south gate. 'No, Kakashi, Sasuke, Shisui, Itachi … be okay. Kami, please do not fucking die!'

* * *

That took a while to write! 13 pages! And it's currently 1:40 am right now! Anyway, how was it? Did you guys know it was Takeo? Probably, I gave a lot of hints! Umm ... so, with Itachi die? I don't know, I love happy endings, but the end is not here, so who knows! ^-^ I hope it was okay! R&R&F please! Thanks! Sayonara, for now! ^-^ Sorry for any grammar mistakes!


	11. Why?

**A/N: **Sorry for the long wait! I had a writer's block of sorts. You see, I am not too good at writing battle scenes and I didn't know how to write this one. I wrote many … but then deleted them. But I suddenly go an idea from watching FMAB and decided to test it out to see if it would work … it did! So, I hope you guys like it! Sorry for the grammar errors if you find any! R&R&F please! I would like to know how my battle scenes were! Thanks!

**Disclaimer: **Any help with this one?  
**Itachi: **Why am I always the one you ask for help?  
**Me: **Um … I didn't ask … you just appeared.  
**Itachi: **Hn.  
**Me: **Hn!  
**Kupochan14: **Not again!  
**Itachi and me: **Gomen …  
**Kupochan14: **Good, now, both of you say it! *smirks*  
**Itachi and me: **We do not own Naruto …

"_Knowledge and awareness are vague, and perhaps better called illusions. Everyone lives within their own subjective interpretation." – Itachi … and it suits this chapter very, very well!_

I made my eyes black and I took out my katana. I had to hurry if I wanted to save everyone if I could. Takeo smiled and took out his katana and waited for me to move. I puffed away and watched him from a building away.

"I wouldn't hide for too long Mika; people just might die because of it." He said looking around him.

_"Gouryuuka no Jutsu!" (Great Dragon Fire Technique)_ I whispered. A fire dragon escaped from my mouth and made its way to Takeo. Takeo turned around upon hearing the fire and his eyes widened a fraction before he did the substitution jutsu.

"Damn it." I said aloud as I jumped down from the building I was on to see Takeo sitting on a bench that was there.

"Is that all you can do? Tsk, I thought higher of you." I glared. If he wanted more, I would give him more! I ran at him and attacked with my katana. He stood up and blocked my katana with his own. We fought with our katanas for a while, no one winning or losing. We were getting nowhere and fast. I jumped away and sheathed my katana and threw kunai at him. He blocked them and puffed. I glared and tried to sense him. 'Behind!' I thought as I turned around to see Takeo in the air with a kunai in his hand … aimed for my heart. I blocked it, but with my right arm.

"Damn." I said as I took the kunai out of my arm. Takeo didn't wait though, he jumped at me again and tried to punch and kick me. I blocked and landed a kick on his stomach. He went flying into a restaurant and the building crumbled around him. I walked up to him and saw him almost unconscious. I picked him up and threw him across the street. He landed on the bench and moaned in pain. He slowly got back up, but he was a little wobbly. I took out a kunai and walked up to him. I pushed him into a wall and put the kunai to his throat.

"You are done for. Any last words? No, good." I said as I put the kunai through his heart. His eyes widened as blood came out of his mouth. I let go of him, but he held my arm. I looked at him and he smirked. I raised my eyebrow as I felt something against my stomach. I looked down and my eyes widened. 'No, not again.' I thought as I looked at Takeo.

"My … little … farewell gift … I'll the effect be … a … surprise …" Then he fell to the floor. I pulled the poison enlaced kunai out of my stomach and dropped it on the ground. I turned and began to run toward the south gate. I was five minutes away and I could tell I was a little low on chakra after fighting Takeo, but I had to make it!

I continued to run while the blood in my stomach continued to flow onto the ground beneath my feet. It was too much blood loss for me; after a few minutes I fell to the ground.

"No, goddamn it! Stand up …. Stand up!" I yelled to myself. I tried to stand up, but my feet wouldn't move. It was like my muscles wouldn't work; I, however, knew that this was not the effects of the poison that Takeo put on the kunai that was in my stomach. Takeo was more … advanced than that and he always thought four steps ahead. Attacking the muscles of one's body was not something Takeo would stoop so low to do, no, he would do something much, much worse with a deadly ending.

"Move … move … please …. Fucking move!" I got on one knee and looked at the south gate after feeling something very strong. 'What the hell is that?' I was looking at this giant, glowing triangle with arms. Then a huge shock wave erupted from it. I was thrown into a building that crumbled around me.

"Ugh…" I said as I pushed the debris away from me, I looked around.

"Was … was that a bomb?" I looked around me after I stood up with help from half a wall and saw buildings in shambles. Trees were burned to a crisp and some buildings were totally gone. My eyes widened and I started to run toward were the bomb exploded from … where Itachi and the others were.

I ran passed all of the tree stumps to a clearing; I looked around but I didn't see- Sasuke! I saw Sasuke lying on the ground and unmoving. I ran up to him and checked for a pulse. He had one, but it was weak.

"Alright, stay with me Sasuke. Don't die." I said checking for any serious wounds. He was burned badly and had multiple splinters sticking out of him, some big and some small, but he was going to be okay. I stood back up and looked around the battle field and saw another body. I ran over to it and saw that it was Shisui. I knelt down and checked to see if he was okay, then I heard him groan in pain.

"Shisui? Shisui, it's me, Mika, are you okay?" I asked seeing if he had any major wounds. He was like Sasuke and was burned badly with multiple splinters.

"M … Mika?" He asked weakly as he opened his eyes and tried to sit up. I pushed him back down.

"No, you are injured." I said. I groaned in annoyance.

"Fine … but go help Itachi. Where is Sasuke and Kakashi?"

"Sasuke is unconscious and I haven't found Kakashi. What happened and where is Itachi?" I asked.

"This Deidara guy blew himself up. Itachi was taken by two Akatsuki." What! Itachi would not just be taken by two Akatsuki.

"What? Explain!" He shook his head.

"No time, they went toward the Forest of Death. Go, now!" I nodded and stood up. I did the signs for a summon and my main crow, Arashi.

"You called master?" She asked.

"I need you to go find Tsunade-sama and tell her that we have wounded here that need immediate attention."

"Yes, master." Then she flew off. I nodded toward Shisui who nodded back and I headed toward the Forest of Death.

It didn't make sense, how could Itachi just be taken away by two fucking Akatsuki? He was stronger than that, he wasn't such a push over!

"Something isn't right." I knew something wasn't right, but what? I stopped my mind from mulling over all the possible reasons and possibilities and continued to run as fast as I could. I came upon the forest fast and raced into it. The forest was big, but the only real way out of it that lead somewhere other than Konoha was on the far north side of it, so I started heading north.

I was running for about four minutes when I heard someone moan. I stopped running from tree to tree to listen.

"… Help …. Someone …. " I jumped down from the trees and looked around for the voice that sounded like Kakashi's. I saw him by a tree that was covered in blood. My eyes widened and I ran toward him.

"Kakashi, what happened?" He was sitting up, leaning against the tree holding his stomach. His Sharingan was revealed and he was pale from the amount of blood loss.

"Itachi … Akatsuki … " I didn't get what he was getting at, I knew that Itachi was taken by the Akatsuki. I looked at his wound and saw that if it wasn't tended to, he would die. He needed healing and fast. I knew some healing, but only enough to keep him alive.

"Kakashi, I need you to be still." I said and he nodded to me weakly. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my chakra. I had only healed about four times and the injuries that the people had were not life threatening. I focused more and felt my chakra go to my hands … then it stopped. I opened my eyes to see why the hell I wasn't' healing Kakashi. 'No ….' I thought as I looked at my wound.

"Bastard." Takeo's poison was to stop me from healing. He knew something like this was going to happen! 'No, damn it. Kakashi is going to die!' I thought as I tried again and again.

"Work damn it!" I yelled. My eyes were filling with tears. I didn't' know Kakashi too much, but he was a nice guy that did not deserve to die. Screw not showing feelings on the battle field, he was a friend. I closed my eyes and tried to heal him again, but then I felt a hand on mine. I opened my eyes and saw Kakashi smiling at me weakly.

"E … enough … go … Itachi … leave … me … "

"I won't let you die! You don't deserve to die!" I yelled.

"It's … my … duty … country …" He said letting go of my hand.

"Kakashi … please don't die!" I said letting the tears go down my face.

"It's … my time … go … be … safe …" He said as he wiped my tears from my face. I smiled as his hand fell from my face. I closed my eyes and put my hand on his face to close his.

"I am sorry Kakashi. I won't let you death be in vain." I said standing up. I wiped my tears away and kept running. I couldn't save Kakashi, but I would be damned if I couldn't save Itachi.

I kept running and I couldn't sense them at all. I was beginning to think I was going the wrong way, but then I noticed a snapped branch. I stopped running and noticed that the direction of the break was to my left. I narrowed my eyes and started to go left. After a few more minutes of running, I heard voices.

"I can't believe that fucking idiot killed himself. He didn't fucking need to!"

"He did us a favor. He was annoying with his impediment and his stupid art principles."

"He saved us time by taking care of those two brats."

I narrowed my eyes. I was listening to the three I encountered by the lake in the Uchiha district: Hidan, Kisame, and the puppet.

"Fuck you guys. Why did you guys have to be so fucking logical?"

"Just shut up kid, we got what we came for."

"I agree. It would be wise to be quiet in case others came for Itachi."

"Who the fucking else is there? We took care of the main people, and the other members are keeping the rest of Konoha fucking busy."

"A question that should be answered by the man himself. Itachi, who else would be after you?" My eyes widened. I was hiding behind a tree so they wouldn't see me and I didn't know he was still conscious.

"Hn." I heard a laugh then.

"You are fucking hilarious! A monosyllabic answer is all we are fucking getting?"

"Don't bug the kid Hidan; he might change his mind about joining us." 'What?' Maybe I didn't hear them right.

"Leader will be glad you choose the Akatsuki." I gasped, I didn't hear them wrong. Why would Itachi join them? He knew what they were capable of and he knew they were … were evil, despicable, horrible, disgusting, detestable, disgraceful, sordid, low-life's! He would never join them!

"Did you guys hear that?" I heard Kisame say. I put a hand on my mouth, but that did not help.

"Come out mother fucker! We fucking know you are fucking there!" I narrowed my eyes and came out of hiding on the ground behind a tree. What I saw made my stomach turn. The puppet was standing next to Hidan who was standing next to Itachi who was next to Kisame, but that was not what was so disturbing. They all had Akatsuki cloaks on … even Itachi. I narrowed my eyes and glared at Itachi with everything I had. I had forgiven him about what he did to my clan and he goes and betrays me!

"Well, well, what do we have here? The little girl we tried to get as bait for our man here." Kisame said with a smirk. I continued to look at Itachi.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked him. He didn't answer me and I narrowed my eyes even more.

"ANSWER ME!" I screamed at him, but he stayed silent.

"Wondering why your little crush is coming with us willingly?" Hidan asked with a smirk. I glared at him.

"Yes."

"This is troublesome. Let's finish this quickly, we can't keep leader waiting." The puppet said.

"Shut up Sasori. This is fucking fun!" Sasori shook his head, but stopped talking. I looked over at Itachi again and glared into his emotionless eyes. Before, I was able to read his eyes like an open book, but not this time. He was an emotionless bastard.

"Why? What about Sasuke, Shisui, your family, Konoha, me?" I asked quieter this time.

"To test my abilities." Was he fucking serious? That was not a reason. I glared.

"That's bull and you know it!" He didn't say anything else though, so I thought it was a good time to tell him about Kakashi, maybe then I would be able to see some fucking emotion in his eyes.

"Kakashi is dead." Nothing, there was nothing in his eyes. I heard a laugh from besides him and looked at Kisame.

"What the hell is so funny about that?" He smirked.

"Itachi killed him." My eyes widened and I looked at Itachi.

"No … you wouldn't!" I said not believing this.

"This is fucking boring. We need to fucking get rid of this bitch before others fucking come and try to stop us." Hidan said and then he smirked.

"Since you two have something, I think the only way Itachi can really show us that he is committed to us is to kill this bitch. What do you guys think?" Hidan asked. Sasori shook his head.

"I don't care as long as we get moving."

"I like it." Kisame said.

"Hn." Itachi said as he took out a kunai and stepped forward. My eyes widened and then went black as they narrowed.

"Itachi … please, don't make me fight you." He didn't say anything as he continued forward toward me. This was not what I was expecting when I found Itachi. I thought he would still be on our side, Konoha's side. I thought he was different. I forgave him! What I did was wrong and I would never forgive him for this. He betrayed Konoha, his friends, his family, and he betrayed me! I would never, ever forgive him!

"Fine, so be it, but I will never forgive you for this." I said as I unsheathed my katana. He jumped with kunai in hand and I jumped with katana in hand. 'Why Itachi, why?' Was all I could think as I jumped toward him.

* * *

Haha! Did you guys see that one coming? How was the battle scene? Good, bad, boring? How was the chapter? R&R&F please! I will update as soon as I can! Bare with me on this please! Umm ... yeah, I hope you guys liked the twist! Maybe you guys are mad? Hehe, it's understandable, Itachi was a good guy up until now. So sad ... ^-^


	12. This story isn't over, not even close!

**A/N: **Yayayayay! I finally got to writing again! It's been about … two weeks! Wow, that's a while, huh? Anyway … I hope this chapter is okay and I am sorry for any grammar mistakes you may find! Umm … please R&R&F! Thank you! I hope you all enjoy! Oh, and this chapter is a little … sad, but it will get better later … because you all know my little downfall, right? I like happy endings! I bet you all are like, how could this end in a happy ending, Itachi went to the Akatsuki! Who knows … besides me! ^-^ Their will be a happy ending, it just might not how you all expect it to be! ^-^ I am tricky like that!

**Disclaimer: **… Any help with this one?  
**Itachi: **I am not helping. You made me the enemy.  
**Me: ***Smirks* Yup! I needed a little twist in my story that people wouldn't have seen coming! ^-^  
**Itachi: **What about Konoha and …  
**Me: **And Mika? *Smirks* Sucks for you, she is pissed off!  
**Itachi: ***Glare*  
**Me: ***Smirks*  
**Kupochan14: **You two need to stop with your little quarrel! Someone needs to say the disclaimer!  
**Itachi and me: ***Look at each other* *Smirks* *Leaves the room*  
**Kupochan14: **… Hey! Fine, Tobi and I will torment both of you for a whole week! Aristotle29 does not own Naruto!

"_A lesson without pain is meaningless, that's because no one can give without sacrificing something. But by enduring that pain and overcoming it, he shall obtain a powerful, unmatched heart, a fullmetal heart." – I love that quote … it's one of my favorites … can anyone tell me where it's from? *Smile*_

My katana hit his kunai as my force pushed him back a step or two. He narrowed his eyes and started to attack me with his kunais. I blocked him, but he was pushing me back toward a tree. My foot hit bark as he continued to attack me as I tried to keep up with his moves. Even with my Kuromerugan, he was a little too fast for me to keep up with. I tried to block all of his attacks, but he slashed my left arm. I jumped away from the tree to behind him and held onto my arm. Now I had two injuries and both, together, would be harmful if I didn't stop the bleeding, but without my healing, I was in trouble. I looked over at where Itachi was, but he was nowhere to be seen. I narrowed my eyes and started to walk forward to try and sense where he was. 'Below, no. Left, no. Right, no. Above!' I thought as I jumped out of the way as a ball of fire hit where I stood a moment ago. Itachi landed and I attacked. I ran at him with my katana and tried to land a hit on him, but he blocked it every time. I finally had had enough with my katana and I jumped back trying to figure out my next move, when I heard Itachi say something. I looked over at him and heard him more clearly.

_"Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"_ Itachi yelled. My eyes widened as I saw flames come toward me. I did a substitution and hid in the trees and watched as Itachi tried to locate me. I glared as I did my hand signs.

_"Kirigakure no Jutsu!"_ I yelled as I landed behind Itachi and stabbed him in the back with a kunai. My eyes narrowed as he puffed. 'A shadow clone.' I would be able to sense Itachi, even with the fog that I surrounded us in. But Itachi could also sense me. 'Where are you?' I thought as I spun in a circle with my katana in hand. Then I sensed him … behind me with a kunai to my throat. I glared, but did not move.

"Why?" I asked, but he only took my katana away from me.

"What the-"

"Enough. Leave now or I will kill you."

"Ha, think you can get rid of me that easily? I won't be the one dying here traitor. I trusted you and you betrayed me, just like everyone else!" I yelled as I puffed. I was standing a few feet away and I watched as my fog slowly faded away. Itachi was facing me with his Sharingan full on and I stood there, bloody, beaten, and betrayed. I was not giving up.

I ran at Itachi and made four shadow clones. In a flash, he slashed my clones and I ran up to him and tried to punch him. He blocked, but I kept punching and kicking. I attacked and he would block, it was the same over and over again, just like when we "sparred" in front of the academy, but he won that fight. I was not going to lose again. I kept trying to hit him, hoping that I would find an opening and I did. I smirked as I punched his stomach with chakra in my fist. His eyes widened and he flew into a tree.

"Damn, that girl has a fucking punch!" I heard Hidan say as I walked over to where Itachi was. 'What? A clone?' I thought as I only saw an empty space in the ground where Itachi was supposed to be. I turned around to see Itachi two inches from me. He grabbed me by the throat and threw me into a tree that collapsed on impact. I started to get back up when I felt a searing pain. My eyes widened as I looked into Itachi's eyes and then at my stomach where he put a katana in my, already existing, wound. Blood came out of my mouth as I grabbed Itachi's shoulder and tried to push him away, but he wouldn't move.

I felt the blood flow out of my stomach as I looked into Itachi's eyes.

"What … about … hospital … you … lied?" I asked as I fell to my knees. Itachi helped me to the ground, but he still had yet to take the katana out of my stomach.

"Why … betraying … me?" I asked as I looked into his eyes for to see if there was anything. It took only a moment for me to realize he had an emotion showing, but I didn't know what it was.

"Hn." That was it? I got a "hn"? He didn't say anything else as he stood up and took the katana with him.

"Ah!" I yelled as my wound pulsated more, bringing me more pain. I coughed up blood as I leaned forward and had my forehead against the ground. I heard Itachi walk towards the Akatsuki, so I decided to say one last thing, as a parting gift.

"You … said … you loved me … I forgave you … to be betrayed again … by … loved ones … I will … never trust … or forgive you … I will … kill you …" I said as I started to see black spots. Itachi stopped walking and looked over his shoulder as I fell on my right side.

"I never loved you. I only used you to get here. I do not care if you don't forgive me." Then he turned away. I felt tears come to my eyes as my eyes closed as I saw Itachi walk away with the Akatsuki members. As my eyes closed I replayed the look in his eyes, over and over and over again to try to decipher the look in his eyes … then I figured it out. I narrowed my eyes remembering all those years back, when Itachi looked back at me before him and his team killed my clan. The look in his eyes was the same … the look of regret. 'But what did he regret?' Was my last thought as I fell into unconsciousness.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

'What is that horrible, fucking noise?' I thought as I tried to open my eyes, but the brightness was too much and I had to close my eyes again. After a moment, I opened them again, but slower. I looked around to see medical equipment, white walls, and a window. A hospital. 'What happen-' My eyes widened as I remembered the battles: Takeo and his poison, Kakashi dead by Itachi's hands, and Itachi fighting me and then leaving with the Akatsuki. I heard the door open and I saw the Hokage walk in.

"I see you are up." I nodded and tried to sit up, but she stopped me.

"Not yet, your stomach was badly injured and will take some time to heal well." I sighed in annoyance, but did as I was told as I looked out the window. I looked back at the Hokage after she sighed, drawing my attention.

"I know what you must be-"

"No, do not give me 'I know what you have been through and it will be okay' crap. I have heard it all before and it means shit." I said glaring at the Hokage, but she just smiled. I raised my eyes brow in question.

"I was going to say that I know what you must be feeling, Itachi, someone close to you, betraying you like your family did. I will not sugar coat it nor will I throw you to the sharks. I will tell you though, is that you shouldn't give up hope yet. This story is not over yet." She stood up then and headed for the door.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused. She looked over her shoulder with a smile.

"Itachi, being who he is, could have easily killed you." I glared, what the hell was she getting at?

"But what-"

"Do not interrupt me! He could have killed you, but yet, here you are, alive. We will send a team in a month to retrieve him, you are going to be on it, so get your rest." Then she left.

I turned on my right side and looked out the window. The regret in his eyes, the fact that he didn't kill me, and … and … the look in his fucking eyes … what did it all mean? Was there a bigger picture I wasn't seeing? There couldn't be … no, it was a ridiculous thought. There was nothing else going on. The only thing that did happen was that Itachi lied … he said he loved me … he told me he felt sorry … he said that … that he was going with the Akatsuki to test his fucking abilities! I closed my eyes, trying to sleep and trying to forget about what happened, but when I closed my eyes, I saw Itachi looking at me with regret filled eyes. Damn it! Why the hell did he feel regret! Nothing made sense anymore … what the hell is going on?

I opened my eyes and looked down at my wounds that I had. I had a large cut on my forearm from Itachi's kunai and I had the katana wound that had gone through my wound that Takeo had given me. Basically, I was lucky to be alive. 'He could have killed me.' That was what the Hokage said and she was right. Itachi was very skilled and very capable of killing me, so why didn't he? I sighed and slowly sat up with the support of my hands and I looked out the window again. It had rained, but now it was sunny and a small butterfly flew across the village. I smiled a small smile; my mother had told me a story about a butterfly when I was about four years old.

I laughed as I continued to chase the butterfly in front of me that was flying toward my backyard that held multiple flowers.

_"Hey, come back! I want to hold you!" I yelled at the pink butterfly that wouldn't sit still!_

_I had finished my training a little early for the day and my parents were at the house cooking dinner while I lied down in the middle of our training field to look at the clouds, when this pink butterfly flew over my head._

_I continued to chase the pink butterfly until I entered my backyard and I lost track of the pink butterfly because of the multiple colors of the flowers and the pink butterfly blended in very well._

_"This isn't fair! I just wanted to hold you!" I said as I sunk to my knees holding my heard, willing myself not to cry. I sat there a few minutes until I heard my mother's voice._

_"Honey, are you okay?" I looked up and saw my mother sit down next to me. I shook my head._

_"No! The pink butterfly wouldn't land on my hand! And now it's lost!" I said hugging my mother. She hugged back, but I heard her laugh a little._

_"Why are you laughing, it's not funny!" I said as I stopped hugging my mother._

_"I'm sorry, dear, but a butterfly doesn't simply land on one's hand. One must me calm and still for the butterfly to land on one's hand. You, honey, are anything but calm!" I smiled._

_"So? The pink butterfly was pretty! Now it's gone and I will never see it again!" I said. My mother thought for a moment, but then she looked out at our flowers._

_"I have a feeling that you will see it again."_

_"How do you know!" I asked not believing her._

_"I am always right!" I glared a little with a smile._

_"That's not a real answer!" I wined. She shook her head and pointed out to our flowers. I looked, but saw nothing but flowers._

_"Butterflies are strange creatures, but you will always see them with a new beginning." I narrowed my eyes as I tried to comprehend what she was trying to tell me, but I was getting nowhere and I looked at her with confusion. She laughed._

_"Okay, let me explain. Butterflies have always been seen with new life. They are attracted to new beginnings, so they will always be seen with new beginnings. No one knows why, really, that butterflies are always around new life or new beginnings, but they always bring happiness and joy with the new life, making people remember them for generations and generations to come." I nodded, understanding what she was saying. I would see the pink butterfly again because there was always a new beginning or a new life, it was inevitable. I smiled and my mother looked at me in question._

_"I get it! Now all I need to do is look for new life and I will find the pink butterfly!" I said standing up and walking toward the flowers, looking for a new, small flower. My mother laughed, also standing up._

_"You can do that in the morning. Dinner is done and it will be dark soon, come on, let's go eat." I sighed, but then I realized how hungry I was I started to run toward the door._

_"Food!" I yelled as my mother caught up with me and picked me up as she continued to walk into the house. I looked back one last time to see if I could see the pink butterfly or not. I smiled and told my mother to wait one second. She put me down and I slowly walked toward a newly forming flower. I kneeled down and stuck out my hand. After a few seconds, the pink butterfly flew onto my hand. I smiled and looked over at my mom. She smiled._

_"I told you." I shook my head and looked at the pink butterfly one last time before I made it fly off my hand so I could go eat._

I shook my head from my thoughts and tried to think of what new beginning there could be. My parents, Takeo, and Itachi all betrayed me, what could come from that? I turned my head to my door upon hearing it open.

"How are you doing?"

"I should be asking you the same thing." I said to Shisui. He smiled a small smile and sat next to me.

"How is Sasuke doing?" I asked.

"He will be okay. He was the closest to the blast, so he took the brunt of it, but he should be fine in a week or two." I nodded.

"That's good." We fell into silence then and I, out of habit, reached for my necklace and played with it. I didn't realize what I was doing until Shisui started to talk, hesitantly.

"Do you miss him?" My eyes widened as I looked at him and saw him looking at what I was playing with with my hand. I immediately let it go.

"No." I lied, I did miss him, more than anything.

"Listen, I know what he did was horrible, but-"

"No. He chose who he wanted to be with, he didn't think twice about it. I will never forgive him." I said pulling off the necklace and throwing it across the room.

"Mika, we will get him back. Itachi will see what he did was wrong and-"

"Yeah, right. He should have realized what was right and wrong when he killed Kakashi! He knew what he was doing and he didn't care whether it was right or wrong and he still doesn't care or he would be back here apologizing to me! When I see him, I will kill him for what he did!" I said pulling my knees closer to me.

"What he did to Kakashi was wrong, but that has nothing to do with you, so what did he do?" I glared at Shisui, but it was a weak glared because of the tears streaming down my face. I saw Shisui's eyes soften.

"He broke my heart." Shisui stood up and hugged me. I didn't accept nor did I decline his hug.

"It will be okay, just … don't give up on him yet, okay?" My eyes narrowed. He was the second person to tell me this. I pulled away from him and he looked confused.

"What do you mean, 'don't give up yet'? You are the second person to tell me this! Is there something I don't know, because if there is, pray tell me!" I practically yelled. Shisui sighed.

"No, I am just trying to think on the bright side … everyone is trying to." I glared, His eyes told a different story. I was good at reading eyes and I read right through him.

"You are lying! Tell me, now!" I said trying to stand up, but he made me sit down.

"Mika, enough! Why do you think I am lying?" I sighed.

"Because Itachi's eyes showed regret." Shisui looked confused, so I explained.

"When he stabbed me with my katana and walked toward the Akatsuki, his eyes showed regret." His eyes widened.

"They showed regret?" I sighed, he knew nothing. I guess I wasn't missing anything and that everyone was just trying to look on the bright side of things and that we would get Itachi back and we could change his mind. I, however, knew that once Itachi's mind was set on something, it didn't change.

"Forget it. Can you please leave, I am tired?" He nodded and started to walk to the door as I turned to look out the window again.

"I am sorry Mika." I nodded and then I heard the door open and close. I was finally alone.

"Damn it!" I said as the tears continued to fall. This wasn't happening! I thought things would have turned out differently! I thought that Itachi would have turned the Akatsuki down and that we would have defeated them or they would have retreated. But no, Itachi chose his side and now he was the enemy. I thought about Kakashi and how he died with honor.

"I'll miss you Kakashi, you were the only person who kept Itachi and me apart while we did our mission." I said to no one. I wiped away my tears, laughing a little with sadness.

"It's too bad, I won the bet and I will only get two favors out of this." I thought dryly. I closed my eyes, trying to think of something happy, but I kept seeing Itachi's eyes … full of regret. I fell asleep wondering what the hell he regretted.

* * *

I wonder what Itachi regretted! I wonder why Shisui is sorry ... is there a double meaning to his 'sorry'? Who knows ... besides me! ^-^ I hope I got you all thinking about what is going one! If you guys have a guess, review! Iwill try my best to tell you all whether you are right or not without spilling too much of what I am thinking! I hope it was okay! R&R&F please! Thank you all for being patient with me! ^-^


	13. Waking up

**A/N: **This chapter is a little boring, just to warn you guys, but this information is needed! I will tell you now that this chapter will bring more questions than answers right now, but you all will get it later on in the story. Some of you might have already guessed what is going on or will happen, if so, PM me and I will either confirm or deny your idea! I hope you all like this chapter even though it is a little boring right now, but in the next chapter or two, it will get better! Enjoy and R&R&F please!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto! V-V

"_I am not upset you lied to me, I am upset that from now on I can't believe you."_

"Why can't we tell her?"

"The Hokage said that it wasn't time."

"So? If we keep this from her, she will never forgive us and she won't trust us."

"She will get why we did this, it just might take some time."

"Tell that to her when she finds out on her own and leaves without any backup and gets him and herself killed." I heard a sigh.

"I … he didn't want us to anyway. He said it was easier this way."

"What! Easier on whom? Her or him! We need to tell her, before it's too late."

I woke up to a conversation that I couldn't wrap my head around. What weren't they telling me? Was I imagining this? Who thought it was the easiest way? And why the hell would I go and kill myself? I was so confused, so I decided I would "sleep" a little longer and see if Sasuke and Shisui would say anything else.

"Sasuke, I know you want to tell her, but he asked you not to."

"I know, I know, but this doesn't seem fair to Mika. I just hope everything works out in the end and that we aren't doing this in vain." Sasuke said to my left by the window. Shisui, by the sound of his voice, was also by the window, by Sasuke.

"Me too." They fell into a silence then, so I decided to "wake up" and try to find out what they were talking about. I opened my eyes slowly and looked to see Shisui and Sasuke looking out the window. Sasuke had a hand cast on and he had a wrap around his shirtless waist. I felt my left arm to see how bad the slash was; luckily, the medical staff had done a great done in healing me, that there was only a small scar visible. I then went to feel my stomach and I winced. It still hurt a little, but it was not nearly as bad as it was. I sat up a little, making a little noise. Shisui and Sasuke turned when they heard the sheets move.

"Hey there sleepy head." Sasuke said with a smile. I smiled.

"I was only out a night." Sasuke looked over at Shisui in loss of words, making me think about how long I had slept. I had just had a conversation with Shisui, the other night … right?

"I was only out for a night … right?"

"The doctors think that you had had too much mental stress that put you in the deep sleep you were in." I raised my eyebrows.

"So how long was I out?"

"Two weeks." What! I wasn't in that bad of shape, right! I only had the stomach and arm injury. Sure, was thinking about Itachi a lot before I went to sleep, but it couldn't have caused me to sleep that long!

"Are you serious? Two weeks! I need to train before we go and get Itachi back." I said standing up with the help of my bed for support.

"Mika, you can't-" My glare stopped him in his tracks.

"I can't what? If you try to stop me, you will regret it." I said picking up my clothes, but Shisui stood in my way.

"Shisui, move."

"No. Wait a few more days. You just woke up and your stomach is still injured. Please, for Sasuke and me." I looked at Sasuke and back at Shisui. 'Damn them for their rational thinking.' I sighed and put my clothes down and sat down on my bed.

"Okay, but on one condition." I said putting the covers back over my legs while Shisui and Sasuke stood on my right side, blocking the view of my window.

"Anything." Shisui said. I smirked, causing them both to look at me confused.

"What did the Hokage not want you to tell me and why would I go kill myself?" I asked. Their eyes widened and they both looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

"How did you-"

"I was awake a while before I opened my eyes. I thought you guys would know better to talk about things while I 'slept', but I guess not. Now, tell me." I said narrowing my eyes. They both sighed and looked at each other again.

"We are under strict orders not to tell you." Sasuke said.

"Screw the orders. Why can't you tell me? Think I will go kill myself or something?"

"No, well yes. We don't want you to do something irrational and get yourself, or anyone for that matter, killed." I glared, they really thought I was that irrational? Sheesh.

"Uh-huh, and what made you think I was that irrational?" I asked leaning back into by fluffy pillows.

"Mika, you aren't irrational, but if you know right now, it would make you irrational." Shisui said. I shook my head.

"How do you know? You haven't told me."

"Mika, please. The Hokage said not to." I glared. Why would she keep something from me?

"You know what? Fine, I won't ask again, but this had better be good. If it's not, you two are the ones I will take my anger out on." I said smiling. They shook their heads.

"Okay, okay, but only after you are better. The doctors said that after you woke up and they observed how well you do after a few days, they would release you." Sasuke said. I nodded.

"What about you? You still look horrible with that wrap." I said smirking. He glared.

"Thanks. I will be better in a day at most. The wrap is there to make sure I don't rip my stiches out." I nodded.

"Cool. Hey, I am sorry about Kakashi; I know he used to be your sensei. I wished I could have saved him." Sasuke turned around, so I couldn't see his reaction.

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault." He left it at that and we fell into a comfortable silence. Shisui and Sasuke were looking out my window and I was staring at the wall in front of me.

I wanted to train so badly. I wanted to be able to kill Itachi, but I wouldn't be able to if I didn't find new tricks to use. I wanted to show Itachi how much I hurt because of him. I forgave him! I fucking loved his ass! Metaphorically and literally. He was intelligent, skilled, caring, and nice in his own way. He was way too smart to get mixed up with the Akatsuki just to test his abilities. There had to be a different motive, but the question was what? Maybe it was what the Hokage wouldn't tell me, but that didn't make sense. Damn it, why couldn't I think of a legitimate reason? Maybe I was too emotionally involved to think objectively. I sighed, my thinking was getting nowhere. Luckily, I didn't have to think too much longer because my nurse came in.

"Oh you are up! That is great. I'll just check your wounds and your vitals and you just might be able to be up and moving in a few days." My nurse said. I nodded.

"We'll see you tomorrow Mika, get better soon." Shisui and Sasuke said. I smiled toward them and my nurse looked at my wounds.

"You arm seems to be healing very well. Now let's look at your stomach." She unwrapped the wrap around my waist and had me lay down on my back. I did and she put her green hands over my wound.

"Okay … it seems to be healing very well too. No vital organs were hit with the katana, which is lucky. That kind of hit is almost unheard of." I narrowed my eyes.

"What do you mean?" She helped me sit up and she put on a new wrap for me.

"Well, to be able to not hit any vital organs, the person would have to know what he or she was doing and purposely not hit anything vital. Now, rest up. I will bring you lunch in a little bit." Then she was gone.

'A person would have to know what he or she was doing and purposely not hit anything vital … so does that mean Itachi didn't want to do any serious damage to me?' He said he lied to me and that he didn't' actually love me, but then why didn't he kill me? Kami, this sucked; I couldn't think of the real reason.

I decided not to think about it too much and I rolled on my side and tried to rest as much as possible, for when I was out of the hospital, I would train everyday so I could beat Itachi. It was only a matter of time.

I woke up the next day to the sound of my door opening. I opened my eyes to see someone I was not expecting.

"What are you doing here Katsumi-sama?" She smiled and walked over to my side.

"This is only a shadow clone, but I had to see you because of everything that has happened. I am sorry I didn't notice Takeo. He was, unfortunately, very good at he did." I nodded.

"It's okay, he was very good. I should have noticed too."

"Well, enough about the past. How are you doing?" I looked at her and I almost started to cry, so much had happened since I was assigned this mission. Takeo betrayed the Mist, Nao was dead, and Itachi broke my heart and his village when he went to the Akatsuki. I didn't know how to say how I felt, to be honest.

"I could be better." I said. She sat down on my bed.

"I heard about Itachi. I am sorry, but there is nothing that you could have done to change his mind."

"I know, but it doesn't change anything. He betrayed his village and … and me."

"Sometimes people make choices without realizing what they have done and regret it later on. Maybe Itachi will come to his senses and come back." I laughed.

"Yeah, but if does decide to come back, he would be a traitor and go to jail or worse. Even if he did, I won't forgive him." I said.

"Okay, I know I can't change your mind, but just … just think open-minded and don't give up yet." I sighed, how many fucking people are going to tell me that?

"Okay." I lied; I had already given up on him. So many people had betrayed me and he was the final straw.

"Now, for some better news, the doctors told me I could tell you. You can leave whenever you want to." I smiled. Finally! I got up and grabbed my clothes.

"Thank you for coming to see me."

"No problem. I will see you back in Mist after you are done with this mission. Ja ne." Then she puffed. I smiled and got dressed. It was time to go train. I walked around my room a little to see how sore my stomach was. I could barely feel it now. I smiled and walked out of my room.

I was walking toward the Uchiha residence, when I saw Shisui and Sasuke talking to someone. When they saw me, the mysterious person puffed.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"No one important. It's good to see you up again." Shisui said. I smiled.

"It's good to be up again. Now, I have a favor to ask you guys." They raised their eyebrows.

"And that would be what?" Sasuke asked.

"I want you two to help me train against the Sharingan." Their eyes widened.

"What do you mean?" Shisui asked.

"Exactly what it sound like. If I am going to fight Itachi again, I want to be able to defeat him this time. In order to do that, I need to know what his weaknesses are." They just stared at me in awe, not knowing what to say. Shisui broke out of it first.

"Umm … okay, but are you sure?" I nodded.

"Okay, we'll help you, but first you need to go check in with the Hokage, she said once you were out that she needed to talk to you about the details of the retrieval mission. I nodded and headed toward the Hokage tower. I knocked on the door once I made it up the stairs.

"Come in." I entered and she looked up from her paperwork.

"Ah, some sit." I sat down and waited for the details.

"Now that you are up and moving, the team I am sending out will leave in a week. I know it is sort notice, but we don't have time to doddle. Firstly, I need to know that you will work with the team and not go off by yourself and get revenge on Itachi?"

"Who is going?"

"I am sending Sasuke, Shisui, Shikamaru, Neji, and you. You haven't met Neji yet, but he has the byakugan and he will help with the navigation of the Akatsuki hideout." I nodded.

"I will be fine." She waited a moment and nodded.

"Good. I have come to attention that you want to be trained by Shisui and Sasuke, is this correct?" How did she know? I only just asked them.

"How-"

"I have my ways, now is this true?" I nodded.

"I think this is a good idea for you. It will help you get better acquainted with the Sharingan. The retrieval team will leave at six in the morning. The base that we have located the Akatsuki at is in Stone, so it will be a three day trip." I nodded.

"Okay, but how did you locate them so quickly?" I asked.

"I had trackers track the scent of Itachi." I nodded.

"Now, go and get prepared. You will be leaving in a one week." I nodded and left the room. It was time to train.

* * *

Soooo? How was it! R&R&F please and PM me or something if you think you know what is going on! I hope it was okay! The next few chapters will get more exciting! Ja ne!


	14. The truth

**A/N: **Okay, here is another kind of dull chapter … however, you all will find out something very interesting … ^-^ I just hope this chapter is okay! I have a … feeling about this chapter … one of those feelings where you don't think it's that good and you think you could do something else to it, but don't know what. Yeah … I have one of those feelings. Umm … Itachiluv18, your review was … pretty much right on track! So good job to you! ^-^ I hope Mika doesn't seem like she just … what's the word … brushed off the news that she receives in this chapter! I tried to make it so she didn't, but then there's that feeling I have again, so it would be awesome if you guys reviewed and told me how I did! Thanks! I hope it's okay and that you guys enjoy it! ^-^ R&R&F please!

**Disclaimer: **I wish I owned Itachi … and Sasuke … but I do not … *cries* ^-^

"_Some say the truth will set us free, but what if the truth hurts?" – Me too lazy to look up a real quote!_

I opened my eyes and looked at my clock … it was three in the morning. I sighed and got up and got dressed. I was up and I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. It seemed I was a morning person now. After I was dressed, I walked out my door and stared at the room in front of me, Itachi's room. I opened the door and walked in. Everything was the same since the time I slept in his bed. I sighed and sat on his bed. I had no idea why I was in his room, I was pissed at him. No, I was passed pissed, I was at livid and wanted revenge. He said he loved me and he lied.

"Test your abilities, huh? Yeah right, there has to be another reason, but what?" I asked aloud to no one in particular, but to my surprise, I got an answer.

"Who said there was another reason?" My eyes widened as I looked over to Itachi's desk.

"What the hell Sasuke? You scared the living shit out of me." He smiled.

"I was in here before you." I nodded.

"Why are you in here?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Thinking. Why are you in here?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. I looked at my hands, not knowing what to say. I didn't know, my legs just moved on their own accord.

"The same, I guess." We went into silence for a few moments before I realized Sasuke had answered my question with another question.

"Why would Itachi suddenly go to the Akatsuki?" I asked. Sasuke looked at me for a moment before sighing and leaning into Itachi's chair.

"Itachi … he has his reasons, reasons that I do not understand. He may be my brother, but he has always kept to himself." I glared.

"I've been wondering something." He raised his eyebrow.

"What?"

"Why does everyone seem so … so calm about this? He is your brother, you should be furious that he left. Shisui keeps saying to give him another chance. The Hokage says the same thing, and your parents haven't said a word about it! Am I the only fucking person who is livid about this whole fucking thing!" I asked standing. Sasuke looked away from me, not answering my question. I glared and walked over to him. I grabbed his shirt and made him stand. He glared, but didn't stop me.

"In the hospital, you wanted to tell me something, but you aren't supposed to. Guess what? No one is here. Tell. Me." I said with a icy voice. Sasuke looked like he was deciding whether or not to tell me or not and after a moment he stepped away from me.

"I can't." I glared.

"Why the hell not? It seems like everyone knows this little fucking secret. Why can't I know?" I said raising my voice a little.

"Because you might do something rash and mess everything up!" He said without thinking. I thought about what he said. I would mess everything up? What would I mess up? His eyes widened after he realized what he had said. I sighed; he wasn't going to tell me anything else.

"Mess everything up, huh? Hmm … I wonder." I thought aloud to myself. I was coming up with a theory, but I couldn't seem to fit one thing into the theory to make it plausible.

"It's been a while since the attack on the Akatsuki … so why hasn't there been a funeral for Kakashi?" I asked looking at Sasuke. I saw his eyes widen a fraction in surprise.

"I … I-"

"Sasuke, enough." Shisui asked from the door way. Sasuke and I looked over at him in surprise.

"How long have you been there?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Long enough. You want to know, you really want to know everything?" he asked. I nodded. I was in the hospital for about two weeks, I trained with Shisui and Sasuke for a week, and now it was the day that our team went to retrieve Itachi. All this time, I thought about everything Itachi had done to me so it would drive me to do better. It worked, but I always had that nagging thought in the back of my mind wondering about the look in Itachi's eyes. The look of regret. I knew everyone was keeping something from me and I wondered what and why they were keeping whatever it was from me. Maybe it would benefit me, but I doubted it.

"Fine, but we should go to the Hokage so she can explain. Sasuke, go get ready to leave." Sasuke nodded and walked out of the room, I tried to leave, but Shisui stopped me. I raised my eyebrow.

"Wait. Take this." He held out his hand and let the item drop in my hand.

"Sasuke and I will meet you in the Hokage's office." Then he puffed. I looked at my hand and my eyes widened. I thought I got rid of this thing! Why would he give this back? I fisted the necklace that Itachi had given me and I made my way to the Hokage's office. It was a little before five in the morning and we would be leaving at eight in the morning. I ran through the streets where no one was up yet. It was still dark out, but the sun was starting to peak over the horizon, creating a small amount of light on the Hokage Mountain. Once I reached the Hokage's office, I knocked.

"Come in." I walked in to see Sasuke, Shisui, Shikamaru, Neji, and some other shinobi that had his or her mask on, so I couldn't see who it was. I stopped in front of the Hokage's desk and waited for her to start talking. She looked at me a moment and sighed.

"Mika, before I explain, you have to know that we didn't tell you for your own good." I wanted to talk back to her and ask why the hell she was fucking worried about me, but I held my tongue and she continued.

"Now, I think this part of the explanation should be shown to you first." She pointed toward the shinobi with the mask on. He nodded and lifted his mask off. My eyes widened in disbelief. 'What the hell?' My shock turned into rage and I looked at the Hokage for answers.

"I watched him die! Why the hell his he alive!" I practically yelled. She sighed.

"It was all part of the plan. We needed the Akatsuki to see Itachi kill one of his comrades, you also needed to believe it." What the hell was she getting at? This whole thing was a charade?

"Wait … make the Akatsuki believe? You don't mean that Itachi is a spy?" She nodded. So everyone lied to me, for what?

"Why did you lie to me? Why?" I asked squeezing the necklace in my hand in rage.

"If you believed that Itachi had also betrayed you, you would show more emotion and make the Akatsuki believe that Itachi had really betrayed everyone he cared about."

"Then why keep lying to me! They aren't here to see you tell me! Why wait until now!"

"We were planning on telling you earlier, but we didn't want you to go off on your own and deal with the situation. Today was the best day since you have been in the hospital and have been training so hard. We didn't want to put anything else on you." I glared. It would have been better if they had told me earlier, even if I was in the hospital or training.

"Are you still going to work with the retrieval team or do we have to take you out of it?" I glared.

"You will not take me out of the team. You have done enough already." I said. She glared.

"Watch what you say young lady, I am the Hokage!" I sighed, but nodded.

"How many Akatsuki are at the hideout?" I asked.

"Sasori, Kisame, and Hidan. Itachi will keep low and keep the illusion that he is and Akatsuki until the last moment when you attack, he will then help out. You all are to kill every Akatsuki member, except one. I do not care which one, but we need one to take down the rest of the Akatsuki members." We all nodded.

"I think we should apprehend Kisame. Hidan likes pain too much and Sasori seemed like the type not to talk." I said. They all nodded.

"It's settled then. You will kill Sasori and Hidan. Now, you all will leave in about two hours, get your stuff ready and meet at the gate at eight and head to Stone. Good luck. Dismissed." We all bowed and we left the office. Once we were all outside, I turned around and glared at Kakashi.

"Yo." He said. I glared. 'Yo' was the only thing he was going to say? I punched him, but not with too much force.

"That was not nice! I thought you were dead!" I said.

"It was part of my mission, you know how it is. But I am sorry." I shook my head.

"Just don't do it again." He nodded and puffed away before I could say anything else. Shikamaru and Neji went off their separate ways, leaving Sasuke, Shisui, and me alone to walk to the Uchiha residence.

"Sorry for lying to you." Sasuke said. I looked over at him, but said nothing. I didn't know what to say. So many people had lied to me, I didn't know who to fucking trust anymore. Sure, we landed a spy in the Akatsuki, but I still was pissed I wasn't in on it from the beginning. So much fucking betrayal, would I ever not be lied to? I looked at the necklace in my hand and sighed. I finally knew why his eyes showed regret, but it still hurt that he said what he did. After everything was done with and we got Itachi back, I would go back to Mist, mission over with. But what then? Would I continue to pretend as if nothing happened? Takeo was dead, Nao was dead, and I didn't have any partners left! I loved Itachi, but my home was Mist. Would Itachi and I be in a relationship after everything was done with? Maybe, but we lived in different villages and we both were shinobi and had missions! I would have to leave Itachi behind. Maybe we could have a relationship, but when would we see each other? Between missions, on off time? That wasn't enough for me. I wanted to keep working with Konoha, I wanted to stay with Itachi, but it was inevitable, I would have to go back to Mist and see Itachi every once in a while … as friends. Life, sometimes, sucked. I concluded as I walked into my room and packed my things. Once I was done packing all my scrolls and kunais, I walked across the hall into Itachi's room again. This time making sure I was alone. I lied down on Itachi's bed and messed with the necklace that I had put back on.

"I'm glad you aren't a traitor, but I still don't know if I can trust anyone, fully, ever again. I've been hurt too many times to trust someone fully again." I said aloud as I walked into Itachi's bathroom smiling. I grabbed his strawberry shampoo and put it in my bag. I hoped he wouldn't mind if I took his shampoo, that smelled amazing, with me! I smiled as I stepped out of his room and ran into Sasuke and Shisui. They were smiling and I glared.

"What?" They shook their heads.

"Nothing." They both said, but I stopped them both.

"I've had enough lying for the rest of my life. What's so funny?" I asked with a playful glared.

"You took it, didn't you?" My eyes widened. How the hell did they know! I smirked.

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about!" I said with a small laugh and turning around. I heard them snicker.

"Uh-huh, sure." Sasuke said. I laughed and we continued toward the gate to go get Itachi back. When we got there, Neji, Shikamaru, and Kakashi were there.

"You're coming too?" I asked. He nodded.

"Why wouldn't I?" I shook my head and smiled.

"I don't know, maybe you would be too scared to face me." I said with a smirk.

"Enough you two. We will be moving until sundown. Only taking a break to check for enemies. Let's head out." Shikamaru said. We all nodded and we put on our masks. It was time to be serious and do our mission without any casualties. It was time to get Itachi back so I could 'kill' him for saying what he did and so I could say a proper goodbye before I left for Mist. It was going to be a long three days until we got to Stone, but it would be an even longer few more days when I start to head home. I just hoped we all made it in one piece back to Konoha. That wasn't too much to ask for … right?

* * *

Sooo? Be honest, how was it! It will get more action-y in the next chapter or two, I promise! I hope it was okay! R&R&F please! Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Ja ne!


	15. Ultimate decision

**A/N: **Sorry! I know it was a little bit of a long wait for the update, but you see … I had a mini writers block for how I was going to end this story, but I got an idea from a song I was listening to on youtube! I love random inspirational songs! But … yes, that means that the end is almost here. V-V I know, sad! Anywho, this chapter, again, is a bit boring, but very necessary! This chapter will bring a few questions up and answer one or two … I think … Umm … I hope you all like it and that it's not confusing or anything! Let me know what you all think, please! I hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Last time I checked, I didn't own Itachi … which means I don't own Naruto … but I would love to own Itachi! And Sasuke! … yup, total Uchiha fan girl! Sue me! … Actually, please don't sue me! *puppy dog eyes*

"_Sometimes, the choice you have chosen will leave you, or someone you care about, heartbroken, even if the choice is the right one." - Me ... and some random quotes thrown together that pertains to this story. ^-^_

As we were running toward Stone, I kept thinking about how ever since I was a child, I was lied to: My parents helped the Akatsuki; the old Mizukage and Hokage had my clan killed; Itachi, Shisui, and Kakashi were the ones that killed my clan; Takeo helped the Akatsuki; and the Hokage and everyone else made me think Itachi had gone rogue with the Akatsuki. Everyone said they lied to make sure I wasn't hurt, but what they didn't realize is that they hurt me by not telling me. Now, the only question was if I was going to forgive them all after everything was all said and done. Yes, they tried to protect me, but who the hell said I needed to be? 'Damn it, why was I so forgiving?' I thought as I kept playing with my necklace.

"Mika, are you listening?" Shisui asked next to me. I looked at everyone as we stopped running in the middle of a clearing.

"Umm, no sorry. What were you saying?" They shook their heads.

"I was saying we are going to camp here tonight. We'll talk about shifts during dinner, so everyone set up their sleeping bags." Kakashi said. Everyone nodded and started to set up their bags. Once we were all done, we got a fire going and Neji and Sasuke went off to get fish in the nearby stream. Soon after, we were all eating fish by the fire.

"We need to come up with a plan." Shisui suddenly said. I raised my eyebrow, didn't we already have a plan? We were going to sneak close to the hideout; we would kill Hidan and Sasori and knock out Kisame so we could then interrogate him when we got back to Konoha. Of course, Itachi would help out too. What else was there to come up with?

"What do you mean? We already have a plan." I said.

"I know we do, but we need to go over the details. Who is doing what and so on." I nodded understanding. It was good to go over things, just in case.

"Okay, what are you thinking?" Neji asked.

"We should split up and have different tasks."

"I agree with you. I think that Shisui, Sasuke, and Mika should go and find Itachi and fight with him with whomever you guys meet up with. Neji, Kakashi, and I will keep at two of the Akatsuki members busy while you find Itachi. Once you guys have found him, let us know and we will go as planned with our plan. How's that sound?" Shikamaru asked. Everyone nodded; it was a very good plan.

"Alright, then it's settled. Anyone have anything else to say?" Shikamaru asked and looked around; no one said anything, so we finished our meal and got ready for bed.

"I'll take the first shift, then I'll wake Shisui, who will wake Shikamaru, then Sasuke, and it should be dawn by then." Kakashi said. They nodded and I settled in my sleeping bag and looked up at the stars.

I spotted a shooting star and I smiled and made a wish. 'I hope it comes true.' I thought to myself as someone came to my side and set their sleeping bag up. I glanced over and saw Shisui. I sighed, he always seemed to wonder what the fuck was on my mind.

"How are you doing?" He asked. I stayed silent before I answered.

"Hn." He laughed a little.

"Itachi is rubbing off on you a little too much." I didn't laugh though.

"Shisui, can I ask you something?" He looked over at me.

"Anything." How was I going to put this?

"Why do people believe that lying will protect people?" He looked over at me quickly.

"Mika, we really did want to protect you and your feelings, it was our only choice." 'Their only choice! I sat up and looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Your only choice! Fuck you. You could have told me, everyone has been lying to me my whole life and I don't know who the fuck to believe anymore! I've had enough and I don't think I could take another lie … from anyone." I said trying to keep my voice down. He sat up too and looked at me with sad eyes.

"I don't want pity, I want understanding, and I fucking want the truth." I said.

"Life is a crazy thing, you know. So many twists and turns. Life is not fair, everyone knows that; however, Life has done more things to you than most and I am sorry. But to make it to the end, to be a better person, to be someone who can say they experienced hell and survived, you have to endure Life. Mika, if anyone can endure Life's twists and turns, it's you. You're already over half way there; just hang in there a little longer." I was in awe, I didn't know Shisui could be so … so philosophical. I sighed. I wanted to believe him and say that everything would work out in the end, but Life was not like that, Life was not a fairytale that had a happy ending.

"Thanks Shisui, but I don't know. I don't think it will turn out how I want it to." He narrowed his eyes.

"What are you thinking?" He asked. I shook my head.

"Honestly, I don't know, but I've had enough."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I lied back down and turned away from Shisui.

"Exactly what it sounds like. Goodnight Shisui." I heard him sigh and lied down. Right as I was falling asleep, I heard him talk to himself.

"Kami Itachi, you better make things right or you'll lose everything you tried to protect." Then I was out.

I woke up with the sun coming up. I sat up and looked around, everyone was waking up too. I put my sleeping bag away and went to the small stream to wash my face and see if I could get breakfast. I caught three; medium sized fish and headed back to camp. There was still a small fire going, so I put the fish near it so they would cook.

"You're ahead of things, eager to move on?" I heard Kakashi say next to me. I looked at him.

"Actually, I was just hungry." I said with a small smile. He laughed and sat next to me.

"Still mad that I 'died'?" I shook my head.

"No, it was for a mission. But you so owe me!" I said.

"For what!"

"I tried to save your butt instead of going after Itachi and the Akatsuki." He shook his head.

"When we get back." I nodded as everyone came to sit by the fire to eat.

"We will be near Stone soon, so be on high alert." Neji said. Everyone nodded.

"We will be near the hideout tomorrow morning if we keep up the pace that we have been doing." Sasuke said. We finished eating and then we started toward Stone again.

'Now's a good time to think about afterwards.' I concluded to myself. I was to the right of our formation, and I didn't feel like talking since I was trying to make sense of my emotions.

I loved Itachi, but I lived in Mist and I was a Mist ANBU. Once this mission was completed, I would go back to Mist and go to my next mission, with new team members. Being in a relationship with Itachi wouldn't be possible. I didn't, personally, like the idea of long range relationships. The likely hood that I would be sent on another Konoha mission was astronomical and if I was given the chance, I don't know if I would. Even though the reason behind all the lies was good, I couldn't get over the fact that they lied to me so many times. Sure, Mist lied too, but that was the old Mizukage who did everything. Katsumi was like my mother and had not mentioned the massacre, so she didn't lie, she just didn't tell me. Konoha, however, lied to my face and kept things secret for far too long before they told me. They only told me because I was close to finding out the truth to every lie they told.

I was, unfortunately, a very forgiving person. But this time I wasn't going to be so forgiving. I sighed coming up with what I was going to do after the mission.

"You seem concentrated on something." Someone suddenly said. I looked to my left and saw Sasuke. It seemed he and Shisui were trying to see into my head.

"Not anymore, I figured it out." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"And what was your conclusion?" 'Should I tell him?' I thought to myself.

"I want to be happy Sasuke; I want a life that is honest and new, I can't get that here."

"I know we have done things, but they were-"

"Thank you." He widened his eyes.

"Thank you?" I nodded.

"Konoha helped me realize things, about my past and my future. If it wasn't for you guys, I would still be lost and confused." I said holding my necklace.

"That still doesn't tell me what you decided." I laughed.

"Maybe, maybe not. You'll find out soon enough, don't push … please." He nodded.

"Alright, I won't. Just think about the outcome." I nodded. I knew the outcome and I knew I wasn't going to like it, but it would work out in the end, the very end.

We kept running until sundown and then we set up camp. We ate, talking about anything and everything, ranging from fighting techniques to food that sounded good. After we ate, we set up our sleeping bags. I had the first shift of lookout because I volunteered. I didn't mind staying up a bit later; I had some things to take care of anyway. Once I knew everyone was asleep, I took out my summoning scroll. I summoned Arashi again.

"You called, master?" I nodded.

"I need you to go to Katsumi right away. Make sure only she reads this."

"Hai, master." I put the message on Arashi's leg and she flew off, taking my message with her. I sighed and grabbed the necklace again.

"Damn it Itachi." I said quietly.

"I love you, but I can't forgive you guys." I said as a tear fell onto my hand. I looked at the sky and wondered if, even after everything I was about to do after the mission was over, my wish would come true. I doubted it, I wished for something I could not have, I wished for the impossible. I wished that Itachi would forgive me. I knew it wouldn't happen, but I had to try. I continued to hold my necklace while I silently cried. Tomorrow we would fight the three Akatsuki and then after we killed two of them and took one of them as our prisoner, and once Itachi was safe again, my mission would be over.

After my shift was over, I woke up Shisui and he took my post without looking at me, thankfully. I still had tears streaming down my face as I fell asleep. Tomorrow was the day everything happened.

* * *

I know this chapter was a little short and kind of boring and sad, I am sorry! However, Mika has just made the biggest decision in her life and I needed to show the process she took to get to her decision. Wondering what the note said that Arashi took? You'll find out! You'll also find out what her decision is too, but that will be later. There is no more than three chapters left! *Cried!* I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! R&R&F please! Thanks! Ja ne readers! ^-^


	16. I love you

**A/N: ***Cries* This is sooooo sad … this is it! This is the last chapter! V-V It's soooo sad, but I am happy I finished another story! I think this story is much better than Merely a Mirage! So much less dark, a little sad, but I didn't think it was too sad … right? I hope not! Anywho, I hope you guys like it, it was like 13 pages! I wrote it at 3 am by the way! Ummm … again, please R&R&F and tell me how you liked or disliked my story! And I have a confession to make … you know how I like happy endings … well I decided to try something a little different … hehe … don't be mad at me! And the action scene isn't really action-y, but you guys know that I don't write them too well! I think that is it, so, without further ado, please enjoy and review after wards! Oh and one more thing … **READ THE A/N AT THE END! IT'S IMPORTANT! ** Okay, please enjoy! (And there will be lyrics throughout this last chapter because I wanted to do something different and meaningful! The will be italicized!)

**Disclaimer: **I wish I owned Itachi and Sasuke … but sadly, I do not … ^-^

_Give me any reason to believe  
'Cause I swear I'm done here  
'Cause I've seen a bigger picture  
And I'm looking for some answers_

I, again, woke up to the sun and to everyone else waking up with me. We all knew that today was the day and we all were not joking. We were serious and I knew we were all wondering what was going to happen. We ate quickly and then we started to head toward the hideout. We were only a few hours away.

"Alright everyone, be on high alert. They probably have traps set up. Itachi said that even once we were inside, there were traps in the hallways. Put on your masks and be weary of everything. Neji, let us know as soon as you see the hideout." Neji nodded and we all put our masks on. I still had my cloak from a while ago and everyone else had their cloaks too. The sun was still trying to come up, so we were running in very little light.

We ran for two hours before Neji spoke up.

"I see it." We all stopped and waited for Neji's output if there were any traps.

"I see multiple kunais with bombs on them. There are also wires on the ground and a few in the trees. Other than that, we should be fine up until the entrance of the hideout, there is a chakra barrier, so I can't see through it from this distance."

"Alright, everyone be careful and watch your back. We split up from here. I'll take my team to the left. You guys go right and check in when you find Itachi." Kakashi said. We all nodded and we went our separate ways. Shisui, Sasuke, and I went to the right and Kakashi, Neji, and Kakashi made their way to the left. We ran into a few traps, but we all were able to avoid setting them off. So far, we were undetected and we wanted to keep it that way. A while ago, everyone had hid their chakra so the Akatsuki wouldn't find us. Shisui, Sasuke, and I stopped on the tree line and checked for any access point that we could enter the hideout. Then I saw it.

"You guys see that rock that seems out of place?" I said pointing in front of me. They nodded at me and we quickly ran through the clearing to try and get to the entrance, but we were stopped by two people in cloaks. We stopped dead and waited for them to show themselves or talk.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" The taller one said. I knew that voice and I smirked. Kisame. The only question was who was under the other straw hat?

"We are here for Itachi. Hand him over and we won't kill you." Really Shisui? That's the best you got? I almost laughed, but didn't.

"Sorry kid, but Itachi decided to come on his own free will to us, I don't think you'll change his mind." I narrowed my black eyes. I wanted to kill this fucking shark, but we had to keep him alive. There was a silence and then Shisui, Sasuke, and I heard the others over our small walky-talkies.

"We have Hidan and Sasori in battle. We don't see Itachi anywhere." There were fuzzing in and out, but that news was very good. That meant that the other person was Itachi. Shisui was the one that talked back to the other team.

"We have Kisame and Itachi in our sights. Preparing to engage in battle to retrieve Itachi." Then we heard fighting from our left. They had begun to fight.

"If you guys really want to die, I'll indulge you." Itachi had yet to say a word, but he was now visible and was looking at me with his Sharingan. He knew it was me. Kisame got his Samehada and started to make his way to us. I took out my katana and Shisui and Sasuke had their Sharingan ready with their kunais.

"Prepare to-" Kisame suddenly stopped running toward us with wide eyes. Shisui, Sasuke, and I were not sure what the hell happened, but he fell into his knees and grabbed his eyes. Itachi had yet to move, so he didn't do anything, so what the hell happened?

"How … there's … no way… I … am … blind?" He said trying to stand back up, but failed epically. That's when Itachi walked forward. 'Blind? There is no way!' I thought with wide eyes.

"I slipped the poison when I cooked dinner for everyone." Itachi said plainly. I narrowed my eyes.

"What! You came to us! You killed you friend and left your girl! You couldn't have!"

"Sorry to disappoint you Akatsuki fish, but Itachi was undercover. He didn't kill anyone." Kisame's eyes widened. Itachi walked up behind Kisame, having enough of the pointless conversation, and knocked him out. Kisame fell forward, unconscious.

"We have Kisame in custody and Itachi is safe. How about you?" There was silence on the other end and after a few moments there was nothing. We were starting to get worried, but then Kakashi answered.

"We … killed them … they went blind for some reason. We are a little cut up, but nothing that will kill us. Meet up where we split up." Then he was gone. I had expected a huge battle, but it seems Itachi was ahead of the game. Shisui and Sasuke ran up to Itachi and took off their masks.

"I can't believe you took the spotlight again! You always think ahead, you should slow down and let others have the spotlight sometime!" Shisui said hitting Itachi on the shoulder as Itachi took off the Akatsuki outfit, so he was in his own. He had a mesh shirt with long, black sleeves. He had black pants, and he had his weapon pouch on.

"Hn." He said.

"It's good to have you back nii-san!" Sasuke said. Itachi hit Sasuke's head with two fingers. Sasuke shook his head.

"How did you come up with the poison to make them blind?" That's when I walked toward them. They looked at me and I took off my mask, not looking at Itachi yet.

_Tell me that it's worth it  
'Cause I'm doing all I can to fight it  
And I've never been this scared  
And my moment's finally here_

"Takeo invented it, to attack the eyes." I said.

"How did you get your hands on it?" I asked looking at him I the eyes. They softened when I looked at him, but other than that, he didn't show emotion.

"I used the kunai that Takeo used to attack you and stab you in the stomach." We all nodded in understanding, then Sasuke spoke up.

"How are we going to carry this huge guy back with us?" Shisui laughed.

"I say we drag him." Shisui and Sasuke said they would to the job after we secured the shark. I took out a scroll and did some hand signs. I put Samehada on my scroll and then there was a puff.

"What did you just do?" Shisui asked. I rolled up my scroll and put it in my bag.

"I didn't want to carry the sword, so I put it in a scoll."

"Genius!" He said. I said nothing and started to walk back to the point where everyone split up. Shisui and Sasuke were behind Itachi and me dragging Kisame with them. I didn't say anything to Itachi nor did he say anything to me.

After a few minutes, we finally made our way back to where Kakashi, Neji, and Shikamaru were. They were a little bloody, but they weren't too bad.

"You guys look like you didn't even fight." Neji said. Shisui and Sasuke smiled.

"We didn't! Kisame was blind before he got to us and then Itachi knocked him out. We should start our way back since it's a three day trip." Sasuke said. We all nodded and Neji got stuck helping Shisui and Sasuke with Kisame. Kakashi, Shikamaru, Itachi, and I were a little bit ahead of them.

"It's good to have you back Itachi. Nice job 'killing me.'" Kakashi said. Itachi nodded. There was tension in the air, so no one talked after that, that is, until we came upon a spot to camp. It was almost dark and we had traveled a great distance, even with Kisame dragging us down. Sasuke, Shisui, and Neji were all tired and just sat down by the fire when we stopped. Kisame was tied up well just in case he woke up, but he wouldn't wake up, not until we were back in Konoha. Once the fire was up and the food was caught, we all sat around the fire.

"How was it with the Akatsuki?" Shisui asked.

"Fine."

"Well, at least you aren't dead and that they fell for out little trick." Shisui said.

"We shouldn't have any problems getting back to Konoha, but keep your guys eyes open just in case. We are still in Stone for another few hours." We all nodded and fell into an uneasy silence. No one really knew what to say. I know I didn't. I wanted to know how Itachi felt, but now was not the time.

After everyone was done with their food, sleeping bags were set up.

"I'll take the first shift, then Mika, and then Itachi follwoed by Shikamaru. Shisui, Sasuke, and Neji, get some rest so you can continue to carry Kisame tomorrow." Kakashi said. We nodded and I went to my sleeping bag to sleep, but I wasn't able to. I wanted to talk to Itachi. I sighed and stood up and started to walk into the trees.

"Stay close." Kakashi said quietly. I nodded and then continued to walk. I walked until I saw the little stream that Shikamaru got the fish in. I sat down and waited. I knew Itachi had been awake and I knew he watched me leave. I waited for only another minute before I felt him sit next to me. I was playing with the necklace when he sat down and I noticed he was looking at it.

_Time's racing (Please slow down)  
I got to find my way out  
I'm hopeless (But hoping)  
My lungs won't fail me now  
'Cause I'm still breathing_

"They told me only a few days before the mission, leaving me thinking how much I wanted to kill you because you betrayed Konoha and me for three weeks. They lied to me and so did you … again." I said.

"You could have gotten hurt." I narrowed my eyes.

"How! I'm not stupid enough to go after you. You were undercover and I could have blown the whole thing, getting both of us killed." I heard him sigh.

"You would have tried to stop me."

"Yes, but I would have also realized it was your mission and I would have let you go, no matter how much I didn't want you to."

"I am sorry." I looked at him then and let go of the necklace.

"You're sorry? That's great and all, but that doesn't undo the fact that you said all those things, you let me believe you killed Kakashi, and you lied to me."

"I did what I had to. I regret having to lie to you and about saying all those things to you, but I couldn't do anything about it at the time." I sighed as he and I stared into each other's eyes.

"Do you love me?" I asked him.

"Yes." He answered immediately.

_It's hard to be a girl  
But I'm doing all I can  
I'm ready to give this all I have  
I'm ready to be amazed  
'Cause I'm standing here alone  
Trying to make this life my own  
And nothing will keep this heart from beating  
I'm still breathing_

"I love you too." I said as I leaned forward and gave him a kiss. His mouth was warm and inviting. He licked my lower lip and I gave him entry to search my cavern. He tasted sweet, like strawberries. I finally pulled back to breathe. We were both breathing hard and I knew my eyes had glazed over. That was an amazing kiss. I was about to kiss him again, but he kissed me. He was like a drug to me. I wanted more of him. I put my hands around his neck as he picked me up and put me in his lap without stopping our kiss. He held my face with his hands and we continued to kiss, until he felt something on my face. He pulled away and looked at me. I had tears running down my face. His eyes softened and he pulled me close. I put my face into his chest and cried. He didn't say anything as I cried, he just held me.

I cried about everything. I let everything I had been holding go. I cried for my parents, my clan, for Nao, for being lied to over and over and over again, for Itachi, for my broken heart that seemed like it wasn't going to heal, for everything in the past, and for what was to come. I cried until my breath started to slow, warning me that I was about to fall asleep in the warm, safe, and comfortable hands of Itachi.

_Promise me some dignity  
If I were to stand and die here  
'Cause my heart is somewhere else  
It's pain I've never felt_

"How much do you love me?" I whispered in his shirt so quiet that it was almost inaudible. But I knew he heard it.

"I love you more than anything." I smiled. I loved him too, but I was passed my breaking point. I couldn't get passed all the lies, the pain, and the uncertainty of the future. I wanted a new start. I wanted to forget everything from my passed and start anew. I needed to leave Konoha and Mist and go somewhere where I didn't have any memories and where I could have a new life with no lies, no pain, and no uncertainty.

Itachi stood up with me in his arms and I kept my head in his chest, listening to his heartbeat. It was soothing and it was putting me asleep. I felt Itachi put me down on a sleeping bag and tuck me in. He put a kiss on my forehead and then I felt him leave. I fell asleep soon after hearing a small conversation between Itachi and Kakashi.

"How'd it go?"

"Hn." Kakashi laughed.

"She told Shisui she has had enough. I don't know what that means, but if I were you, I would find out in order to fix it."

"Let her sleep, I'll take her shift." I heard Kakashi stand up and head to his sleeping bag.

"Very well. Goodnight Itachi."

"Hn." With that, I was gone, into a dreamless night.

_Time's racing (Please slow down)  
I got to find my way out  
I'm hopeless (But hoping)  
My lungs won't fail me now  
'Cause I'm still breathing_

After two more days of running, we finally made it to Konoha. Waiting for us was the Hokage and a few ANBU I didn't know.

"Nice job all of you." She said as the ANBU took Kisame and the scroll I had with his sword. Once they left, the Hokage looked at us.

"You all did a great job, Itachi, I will need a report. Come with me to my office. The rest of you have a few weeks off. Mika, I will need to speak to you when you are free and within two days." Everyone nodded and Itachi and the Hokage left. Shikamaru and Neji disappeared, leaving Sasuke, Shisui, and me alone.

"What do you guys say about going to eat?" Sasuke asked. Shisui and I nodded. Food sounded good. We went into Ichiraku's and ate ramen.

"Do you guys remember the bet we made?" I asked suddenly. Shisui and Sasuke looked at me and nodded.

"Oh boy, what do you want?" Sasuke asked laughing, but I stopped him with the seriousness on my face.

"I need both of you to do something for me that has to be a secret. No one else can know, especially Itachi." They looked at each other and then at me with narrowed eyes.

"We promise." I nodded and pushed my food away.

"I need you two to keep Itachi busy tonight. Act normal, but keep him distracted."

"Why?" Shisui asked. I shook my head.

"I can't tell you guys. I need to know I can count on you two." Sasuke nodded hesitantly. Shisui did too after a few moments of thinking.

"We will, but Mika, are you sure?" It seemed they sort of knew what I was thinking, but they seemed willing to help me. I nodded and stood up.

"Itachi will be out of his meeting soon and since it's already around ten at night, I need you two to keep in distracted until midnight at least." They nodded.

"Mika … I-" Sasuke started, but I hugged him and Shisui.

"Thank you guys." I said and walked out of Ichiraku's. I started to head toward the Uchiha residence, when I felt Itachi's presence behind me. I stopped and turned around.

"How'd it go?" I asked.

"Hn." He said and kissed me. I kissed back and pulled back after a few moments to get air.

"Sasuke and Shisui are going to celebrate our mission. I am too tired, so I am going to bed, but go have fun." He narrowed his eyes at me trying to decide whether to go or not. But then I smiled.

"Go! You need some fun or else you will be a crab later." I said smiling. Itachi shook his head and kissed me one last time and then headed toward Sasuke and Shisui. 'I am counting on you two.' I thought as I entered my room and grabbed my bag.

I packed everything that I had, which was only a few clothes and a few scrolls. I put my bag on and was about to leave out my door when there was a tapping on my window. I looked to see Arashi. I let her in and she landed on my arm.

"I have done what you asked, Master." I nodded and grabbed the note attached to Arashi's leg.

"Good work Arashi, you are dismissed." She nodded and then puffed. I sat down and read the note from Katsumi.

_You have been like a daughter to me since your clan's death. I am sorry that you have experienced so much in the past few years. If this is what you really want, then I will let you go. But, please be safe._

_Your mission is to go to Grass and make sure that our treaty will remain. The time you will spend there is what you requested, you can stay as long as you like. But you have to write me a report every two years on your birthday so I know you're okay and that the treaty is okay too._

_I hope your happiness will flourish while you are there. I am the only one who knows of this, but I did tell Tsunade that you will be leaving when you get this note. I wish you luck and look forward to hear from you in two years._

_Sincerely,_

_Katsumi, the Mizukage._

I smiled. She was like a mother to me and I was glad she allowed me to do this. I put the note in my bag and looked at the clock. It was around ten thirty. I stood up and looked around my room one last time. I walked out of my room and walked into Itachi's room. I smiled when I remembered that I still had Itachi's strawberry shampoo in my bag. I pulled out the shampoo and set it on his bed. I brushed away the falling tears that were falling down my face. I pulled off my necklace and looked at it. Tears were flowing freely now as I put my necklace next to the shampoo in the middle of his bed along with a note I had written earlier when no one was near me.

"I am sorry Itachi, but I need a new start. I can't forgive anyone anymore. I love you and I always will, but I can't stay and I can't keep my past in my present." I said as I left his room through his window. I hadn't felt Itachi anywhere near me, so I headed toward the gate. I stopped at the gate and turned around and looked at Konoha one last time. I turned around and started to run toward Grass, letting the last tear fall before I willed myself not to cry anymore. I was heading toward a new life and a new beginning. I would forget my past and move forward to my future, a future without any lies and without an uncertainty.

_It's hard to be a girl  
But I'm doing all I can  
I'm ready to give this all I have  
Be ready to be amazed (I'm still breathing)  
'Cause I'm standing here alone  
Trying to make this life my own (I'm still breathing)  
And nothing will keep this heart from beating  
I'm still breathing_

Itachi's POV

As I left to head toward Shisui and my otouto, I knew something wasn't right. Mika was acting weird and the look in her eyes told me that she was thinking about something other than sleep. I wanted to ask her, but the look she gave me before she left told me she didn't want to talk. I sighed and kept walking toward the celebration.

I had regretted everything I had done to Mika during my mission. I said lies, making my truths sound like lies, and causing Mika pain that I never intended. I wanted her to know how much I cared about her and I would tell her. I would tell her in the morning and ask her to stay in Konoha instead of going back to Mist. I wanted to be with her forever and I hoped she still felt like that too. Kakashi had mentioned that she had had enough with everything and that he didn't know what she meant. I knew though. She wanted to pain, the lies, and the uncertainty of her future to go away and to have a new beginning. I was going to give that to her; I wanted her happy.

"Itachi, what took you so long?" Shisui asked as he ran toward me.

"Hn."

"Nii-san, come on, don't be a party pooper! We have to celebrate our success with capturing an Akatsuki member without anyone dying!" I shook my head at my otouto. He was seemed so serious with his friends around, but when it was just family, he was so much less serious and had fun.

"Come on, everyone is waiting!" I raised my eyebrows. 'Who is everyone?' I thought as my otouto and cousin dragged me down the street to Ichiraku's. My eyes widened a little. It seemed everyone on the ANBU and Jounin squad was here … in the little restaurant. Everyone seemed to be having a great time though.

"Hey, it's my man Itachi! Congratulations on your mission!" Kiba, my otouto's friend, said to me. He was definitely drunk by how he was walking and hanging onto everyone he came into contact with.

"Hn." I said putting him with my otouto, who was getting some drinks for himself. I didn't stop him, he did well and deserved to have some fun.

"Nice job Itachi!" Asuma said to me as he headed toward Kurenai. I nodded toward him and his fiancé, who smiled toward me. I walked up to Shisui and he handed me a drink. I took a drink and grimaced. I wasn't fancy with sake, but I decided what the heck and I chugged it.

"That's what I am talking about!" Shisui said as he also chugged his drink.

"I would have never believed someone if they told me the Itachi Uchiha was drinking sake if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes." Came a voice to my right. I looked over and saw the Hokage with five drinks in front of her.

"Hokage-sama." I said being formal. She waved her hand at me.

"No need to be formal Uchiha. Not until tomorrow at least. This is a party, enjoy it!" She said swallowing her sake.

I nodded and turned around to watch everyone have fun. Shisui had gone off and was dancing with some girl with blonde hair. I shook my head and saw my otouto with his friends having fun talking about who knows what. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and it seemed like a light mood, but something didn't settle right with me.

Mika seemed distracted when she was telling me she was 'tired', but she didn't seem tired in the least. The air around me got a little tighter for some reason and I turned around and shot another glass of sake before I started to make my way to the door. As I was making my way to the door, I noticed Shisui and my otouto stood more alert as I started to head toward the door. I narrowed my eyes. 'I knew it, something is up.' I made my way out of the restaurant and waited outside the door for Shisui and my foolish brother. When they came rushing out looking for me, I cleared my throat, startling them.

"Explain." Shisui and my otouto looked at each other before looking back at me. They didn't seem to want to tell me. I was getting pissed, why would they keep something from me? I was about to ask when the door opened, revealing the Hokage. She shook her head.

"Don't be mad at them." She stated as she leaned against the restaurant.

"Why should I be mad and who should I be mad at?" I asked.

"Everyone involved with Mika." I narrowed my eyes.

"What is going on?" I asked getting impatient.

"Mika asked Shisui and Sasuke to distract you."

"Why?" I asked dreading the answer.

_Where do we all find love?  
Where do we all find love?_

"Mika decided that she wanted to forget her past and start fresh. She left a while ago. I do not know where, so don't ask. I do know that she wants no one to look for her." My eyes widened and I ran toward my house. I entered my house and ran to her room to see her nowhere in sight. Her stuff was gone and so was she. 'Why would she … she said she loved me …' I narrowed my eyes. I was going to go and get her back. She needed to know how much I loved her and needed her. I entered my room to grab my stuff, when I noticed something out of place. My shampoo was on my bed, next to a note. I walked over to my bed and grabbed the note. It was addressed to me. I sat down and opened it.

_You are probably thinking how after reading this, that you will come and look for me and get me back. Right? Well, don't. I am going to tell you how I feel and after you can decide whether you want to come after me. Fair? I think so._

_I lived a lie; I spent over five years trying to find the Akatsuki and get revenge on them for killing my clan. Then I realized that I was lied to. The old Mizukage and your Hokage planned it. I decided to try and forgive you guys since my family helped the Akatsuki attack the Mist. I then figured out that Takeo had also betrayed me and was working with the Akatsuki. He killed Nao, who didn't deserve to die, and lied to me again and took his form. I didn't forgive him and I killed him. On my way to help you, I ran into Kakashi, bleeding and dying. I tried to heal him, but my healing was tampered with, so I couldn't. I was pissed and wanted to kill someone for killing another person dear to me. I then thought that you killed_ _him and joined the Akatsuki. You told me you lied to me the night in the hospital, and that you didn't love me and how you used me. I was left on the ground, just like when I was younger, and I saw the regret in your eyes. I was so confused, I didn't know why you felt regret since you joined the Akatsuki on your own accord. I hated you, I admit it, I hated you for about three weeks because you betrayed me and broke my heart. I had already been lied to so many times and you doing what you did only added to the weight on my breaking heart._

_But I then was told that it was all a mission and that you were undercover, a spy. I was told three fucking weeks after. Konoha, my friends, and my comrades, had lied to me again to 'protect me'. That is what did it for me. My heart broke. I had had enough of the lying , the pain, and the betrayal. I decided that, even though I love you and I will always love you, I needed to forget my past … including you. In order for me to forget the past and move on to my new future, I have to get away from everything and everyone I know. _

_I want to be happy where there is no pain, no lies, and no uncertainty in my present or future. So, that is why I am leaving. I will not tell you where I am going; the only thing I will tell you is that if you still want to look for me, you will never find me. I made sure of that. _

_If you want me to be happy and live my life to the fullest, please, please, don't come looking for me. You will feel hurt, pain, and you will feel heaviness in your heart. Trust me, I know, because I am feeling the same thing, but it will go away and we both will be able to move on and forget about each other. _

_You are the only person that I have loved like this and you will be the last person. I love you, kami I do, but sometimes in order to move on, one must let go of what is dear to them. That is what I am doing. _

_Please move on, love again, take missions, and live your life well. You don't need me. I love you and I always will._

_Sincerely,_

_Mika of the Karasu Clan._

I stared at the note and read it over and over again. I wanted to go after her, I wanted her back, but she wouldn't be happy if she had to deal with everything that she has for the rest of her life. I sighed and put the note down, trying to figure out what I was going to do. I was never this indecisive about something before … as I put the note down, I felt metal. I looked down and picked up the item. I fisted my hand and let the tears I had been holding go free. She left the necklace I gave her, a crow with an Uchiha symbol on it. She was really never coming back. I got up and ran out my door into my backyard, but I didn't stop running. I kept running until I came to the training area on the opposite side of Konoha. I sat down and leaned against a tree. I looked at the necklace in my hand, not knowing if I should let Mika be or if I should look for her.

I looked at the sky upon hearing thunder. Rain started to come down and eventually it poured. It was like the sky knew how I was feeling and decided to make me feel worse than I really did. I continued to look at the necklace, trying to decide. I loved Mika and I wanted to be with her the rest of my life, but I also wanted her to be happy. I closed my eyes, hoping I would get an epiphany, but it never came.

"Damn it!" I screamed suddenly and hitting the ground with my fist. Then I heard a 'tsking' sound. I opened my eyes and saw Shisui walking toward me.

"Such foul language." I narrowed my eyes.

"Not now." He sat down next to me.

"I'm sorry she left. It was her decision and hers alone." I already knew that!

"Hn." I said as I was getting more and more pissed of waiting for his point.

"Mika wants a new life and to forget everything from her past, yes, but have you ever thought that if she forgets everything, she will never learn from it and she can never grow?" I raised my eyebrow, hoping he would get to his point soon or I would have to kick him out of my little area. He sighed then and looked up at the sky.

"It seems the sky is as sad as you and Mika. You both love each other to death and I know you would give anything to make her happy, but also so you could be with her, no?" He asked me. I didn't answer though, he already knew I did.

"Your point … soon." I said. He smiled and stood up.

"My point is that if Mika forgets everything, she won't be Mika. She needs something or someone to remind her of who she is, but not to remind her of everything from her past. Only the good and only the one thing that she loves and cares for." Shisui said walking away from me, but then stopped and turned around and shout over the raging storm that had engulfed us.

"Go to her Itachi, find her, and make her happy! I hear that there are missions in each country that the Hokage is willing to give that last for years, forever even, depending on how much we are allies with them." He said smiling. I nodded toward him. He disappeared and I stood up, looking at the necklace one last time before running toward my house to change out of my clothes. After Shisui's talk, I realized that Mika would find her happiness, but she might also lose who she really is in the process in being happy and forgetting the past. I loved Mika, but I didn't want to impede on her, even if she did change. It was her choice to leave and she knew what she was doing. I didn't want to make her unhappy.

I made it back to my house and changed into sweatpants and sat on my bed. I sighed and put the necklace in my nightstand, all the way in the back so I would forget about it. I would never forget about Mika nor would I ever stop loving her, but life was life and I needed to live my life and she needed to live her life that way she wanted it … without anyone interfering. I lied down and went to sleep, hoping I was making the right decision … for both Mika and myself.

_It's hard to be a girl  
But I am doing all I can  
I'm ready to give this all I have  
I'm ready to be amazed (I'm still breathing)  
'Cause I'm standing here alone  
Trying to make this life my own (I'm still breathing)  
And nothing will keep me from beating this heart  
I'm still breathing_

* * *

**A/N: **The song was Still Breathing by Mayday Parade. I changed the 'man' part to 'girl' because my main character is a girl and so am I and that would be weird to say I am a man! Sorry for the Occness with Itachi, but hey, it's my story! Now, on to business; I said this was the last chapter and I bet you all are like 'WTF? It's ending here?' Am I right? Well, to be honest, I have an epilogue …** but, if you guys want to see it, then review**. If you guys want to know if Mika will see Itachi again or not or if they will never see each other again or if you want to know how they coped and how they are living, then review and tell me to put it up! I like reviews! So again, **if you want to see it, review! ^-^** I hope you guys enjoyed my story and that it wasn't too bad, sad, boring, et cetera! ^-^

Thank you to all you readers who have read, reviewed, or even PMed me! I love you all and I hope to hear from you soon! Ja ne!


	17. Epilogue

**A/N: **I don't know how well this chapter was written … I like it … but there are some spots where I think it could be improved, but don't know if I want to change it. Oh well, I hope you all liked my story, for this, is the last chapter, officially! I, personally, think that it was okay, but not my best story ever. Please review and tell me how it was. I always take advice or criticism, for I know I can always improve! Again, I hoped you all liked it!

**Disclaimer: **…. Still don't own Naruto … or Itachi … or Sasuke … sad day! ^-^

"_And I'll be by your side  
Wherever you fall  
In the dead of night  
Whenever you call  
And please don't fight  
these hands that are holding you  
My hands that are holding you." – By your side by Tenth Avenue_

Two years later

I sighed in contentment as I walked into my house. It had been a long day with all the paper signing and making sure Grass was happy with the re-done treaty. There were some changes in, but nothing too distinct; the main thing was that they had, finally, finalized my stay. Grass hadn't minded that I was staying, but they hadn't written it on paper because they were busy with other things, well, that's what they told me.

My house was pretty good size. It was two stories and had enough room for at least three people. Grass had multiple forests surrounding their village and I lived a few miles in one of their forests. It kept me out of site, but with access to the village. I helped Grass with security here and there, but other than that, I had time to myself and I liked it that way. I socialized with people and got to know them very well. People always said hello to me when I was getting food or other groceries and I was happy. They made me feel like I had lived in Grass my whole life. No one really knew who I was or my past, but they didn't pry and I was grateful.

I walked into my kitchen and grabbed an apple and ran into my room and changed into some shorts and a T-shirt. I was off duty now and I wouldn't have to help with security until tomorrow night, leaving me the rest of the day today and the day tomorrow to myself. I usually trained, walked around the village, or explored the forest that surrounded Grass. The life in Grass was easy going because the village was secluded from most of the other villages because of forests that stretched on and on for miles and miles.

Once I changed, I headed down stairs and grabbed my money and headed out to buy food for my dinner I was making, tomato risotto. I walked out my door and decided to take my time getting into town. The sun was still up, but it was falling and would be dark in less than two hours. The birds were singing and the clouds were nowhere in sight. It was a beautiful with the trees everywhere and a small path from my house to the village. After about fifteen minutes, I finally made it to the village and I walked to my favorite vegetable and fruit stand that was in the middle of the village.

"It's good to see you again Mika." Yuu told me as I walked up to her. Yuu was about ten years older than me, making her twenty-eight. Yuu's birthday was a few days after mine and my birthday was over a month ago. I had reported to Katsumi on my birthday, telling her that everything with the treaty was still going well and that I was fine. She responded to me a day later and said she was glad that I was doing well and the treaty was also doing well. She wished me a great two more years and reminded me to send another message in two years.

"How are you doing Yuu?" I asked looking at which fruits and vegetables to get.

"Bored actually. My boyfriend had to work today, so he hasn't come by today, leaving me bored to tears! Some people have come by, but other than that, no one seems to want to buy food today. Maybe it's because it rained today." Yuu started to babble. I laughed; she always liked to talk about things, whether they were about gossip or about her boyfriend.

"What's so funny Mika? I am bored and your laughing at me!" Yuu said smiling. I smiled back.

"I'm just happy that someone is more bored than me." I said smiling, Yuu pretended to frown, but her smile showed anyway.

"So what are you having for dinner this time?" She asked. I grabbed a few tomatoes, carrots, and some potatoes.

"I am making tomato risotto!" I said paying for the food.

"Yum! Man, that sounds good. Aren't you going to buy strawberries too like you usually do?" She asked me. I shook my head.

"Not this time, I got burned out on them. Don't you worry though, give me a month tops and I will buy them again!" I said about to walk away, but Yuu stopped me.

"Oh, wait! Someone came to me and asked about you by name before you showed up. I don't know who he was, but he was hot. Don't tell my boyfriend I said that!" I narrowed my eyes. Only Katsumi knew where I was, who could have found out? I turned around and looked at her without smiling, making her smile go away.

"Do you know who it was?" She shook her head.

"He didn't give me a name; he just asked if you lived near here."

"Did you tell him?" I asked hoping she didn't, but she nodded. I sighed, she didn't know about my past, I couldn't blame her.

"It's okay, but one more thing, what did he look like?" She thought for a moment.

"He had obsidian eyes, black hair, a slim figure, and he had a smooth voice." I nodded.

"Okay, thanks Yuu; I'll see you later!" I said walking back to my house. There was only one person I knew that would come and look for me, even after two years of being away. I thought he had moved on … like I tried to do.

After I left Konoha and came to Grass, I was sad for about three months. I kept thinking about Itachi and everyone that I had come to like, but I also thought about all the lies and everything I had gone through when I was there. I eventually was able to not think about Itachi as often and I was able to function normally; I, however, got strawberries to fill my craving for Itachi. It worked for me and I went with it. After about a year, I still thought about my past, but I was focusing more on my future than anything and every day, my past would not be so strong in my mind. I was able to not dream or think about my past for months on end and I was happy with that fact, but I still had dreams about Itachi here and there. I hadn't looked for a new boyfriend or a friend that was a guy. I couldn't do it. I was happy with my life, I didn't have any more lies, pain, or uncertainty in my future and I loved that fast. I was living my life how I wanted it and I didn't want anyone to ruin it … but I didn't think anyone would until now.

My house got into my view and I sensed for any chakra that would be near my house or even in it, but I sensed no one. I shrugged and walked in my house, still on alert, just in case. I walked into my kitchen and put the groceries on the counter. It was about time for dinner, so I made my risotto. It only took about ten minutes to make and soon it was ready. I ate some of it and put the rest of it away for the morning after I had my morning run in the forest. Once I had put all the dishes away, I headed toward my room to take a long, hot shower. I still hadn't felt anything, so I stopped worrying as much. I walked into my room and got my pajamas out and set them on the bed. I had baggy pants that were black and a tank-top that was dark blue.

"Damn, I forgot my water." I said aloud as I left my room to go into the kitchen to grab my glass of water I had and ran back up stairs. When I stepped into my room, something was off. I narrowed my eyes and walked in. 'What is that smell?' I hadn't smelled anything just a few moments ago and I concentrated a little harder and then I realized it. I raised an eyebrow.

"Strawberries? I must be craving them or something." I put my water down and went to grab my clothes to take into my bathroom, when something caught my eye. I narrowed my eyes, it couldn't be. I reached out and picked up the item and looked at it in my hand. How did he find me? I made sure that I was in a secluded area and only Katsumi knew where I was! There was no possible- I sensed him then, behind me. I turned around with wide eyes. There he was, standing there, leaning against my wall, just looking at me.

"How?" I asked. He walked toward me and stopped in front of me.

"I had a feeling."

"There is no way you just had 'a feeling'." I said plainly. We stared at each other for a moment and then I spoke.

"Leave, you shouldn't be here." I said walking to my bathroom, but he stopped me.

"We need to talk." I glared at him.

"There is nothing to talk about! I left to forget and I was doing pretty well until you showed up!" I said turning to face him fully.

"You left without giving me a chance. I know you didn't forget about me because I never forgot about you."

"Fine, I didn't forget, but that doesn't mean anything and you know it!"

"Really? Are you happy?" He asked me. I raised my eyebrow, of course I was happy! Why wouldn't I be happy? I was in a new village, with new people who hadn't lied to me, where no one I knew died, and where I could forget everything! I was happy … I was …

"I am."

"Bullshit." I narrowed my eyes.

"How the hell do you know? I have been living my life and I don't need you back in it!" I yelled. He glared at me and walked towards me. I stayed my ground.

"You told me you loved me. Love does not go away no matter how much you try to make it go away. Not being able to be with the one that you love does not make someone happy, it makes life hell." I loved him, yes, more than anything, but after everything he put me through, I didn't know if I could forgive him.

"Itachi … damn it, I love you, yes! But you lied; you lied to me so many fucking times! How can I trust you again, huh? I want to love someone and be with them, but can't do that with someone whom I can't trust!" I said quietly looking into his eyes. I expected to see no emotion, like I did two years ago, but I didn't see that. I saw hurt, sadness, and I saw love. The amount of love I saw in his eyes made me gasp.

"You have every right not to trust me, but if you give me another chance, I will show you how you can trust me. I love you and I have never stopped loving you since the day I saw you for the first time. It hurt me more than you know to have to lie to you and to keep things from you, but now I don't have to do any of that again and I won't. Trust me." I sat on my bed and put my head in my hands.

When I left Itachi, I told myself I would get over him and move on, but I didn't know how hard that was until I tried. I tried so hard to get over him and to forget, but I couldn't, no matter how much I tried. I loved Itachi, but I didn't know how anything would work out, but mostly, I didn't want to be hurt again. I squeezed the necklace in my hand trying to think what I would do, when I felt Itachi kneel in front of me and took my hands away from my face, showing my hurt, scared eyes.

"I …. I want to trust you, I want to be with you more than anything, but I'm scared that I will be hurt again." I said letting a tear fall from my eye. He wiped it away and looked at me.

"I will make sure you will never be hurt again. Physically and mentally, I will protect you with my life." I shook my head.

"I can't go back to Konoha or Mist … I can't-"

"We won't." I looked at him, shocked. What was he saying? He smiled and stood up, taking me with him.

"I took a mission." I felt my heart sink … another mission. He saw my worry and smiled even more, making me confused.

"The treaty we have with Grass is looking good, but who knows, in the future, something could happen. I need to make sure that that doesn't happen. The only problem is that I have to stay in Grass for a long, long time and I have nowhere to stay." My eyes widened, he was doing what I was doing! I hugged him and he hugged back.

"Do you forgive me?" He asked quietly. I let him go and looked at him. I hadn't forgiven anyone, really, for what they had done. I didn't 'hate' anyone per say, but I would never forgive anyone fully for what they did … but Itachi … different.

"It depends." I said with a smirk. He raised his eyebrow.

"On what?"

"If you tell me how you found me and if you do me a favor." I said with an evil glint in my eyes. He smiled.

"I asked the Mizukage." My eyes widened, that bitch! I shook my head.

"Of course she told you, she always liked your ass." I said.

"Now, what is this 'favor'?" I laughed and grabbed my clothes.

"You let me use your shampoo." He looked shocked.

"You want to use my shampoo?" I nodded and walked over to him, handing him my necklace.

"I like the strawberry scent. I'll be right back, make yourself comfortable." I said smiling.

"Oh and don't get any ideas mister." He laughed and grabbed me from behind, hugging me. I leaned into his touch.

"I'll be waiting." I pulled free and went to take my shower. When I entered, I realized where the smell of strawberries had come from. I laughed. On the sink was Itachi's shampoo next to strawberries. I took a quick shower and walked out of my bathroom to find Itachi in my bed, asleep. I smiled and put the bowl of strawberries on my nightstand. I crawled under my covers quietly and sat up on my left elbow to look at Itachi. I couldn't believe he had found me and that he, after two years, had not forgotten me. I would give him another chance because I loved him more than I had loved anyone in a long time. He was always there for me, even if he had lied to me so many times. But I knew that he lied to protect me. He had helped me from the very beginning. He didn't kill me that night, he didn't kill me what he had to to get the Akatsuki to believe him, and he saved me from being loveless. He stole my heart and broke it, but after I thought it wouldn't be healed, he started to heal it. I had tried to forget my past, hoping I would forget everything bad that had happened to me, but now that I had Itachi back, I realized something. If I forgot everything from my past, I wouldn't be who I was today and I wouldn't be able to grow from it.

I stared at Itachi, remembering the night when I thanked him for giving me the necklace and I blushed upon remembering what I thought he meant by 'sleeping with him'. I had the necklace on now and I held it while looking at a sleeping Itachi. He was so peaceful and so beautiful. I leaned in and kissed him on his lips briefly, trying not to wake him, but as I was about to pull back, his lips responded and kissed back. I moaned and we kissed for a few more minutes before I pulled back to breathe. I saw him smirking. I glared.

"I can't believe I fell for that again." I said putting my head on his stomach, that didn't have a shirt on, and looked at him.

"You are easy to play with." I shook my head, trying not to show my blush. I was so perverted and took that the wrong way, but I didn't want Itachi to know that I thought that way or else I he would tease me about it for life! I, however, wasn't so lucky and he saw my blush. He smirked even more and I sat up and glared.

"What are you smirking at?" I asked. He sat up too, showing his abs.

"You are blushing again." I shook my head.

"Am not!" I said turning my head away from him, but he grabbed my chin gently turned my face toward him.

"I think it's cute." He said before he put his lips on mine. He licked my bottom lip asking for entry and I allowed him to. He swept his tongue in my cavern, tasting me while I tasted him. It seemed as though he had eaten some of the strawberries that he left me. I smiled into the kiss and he deepened it. We kissed until he pulled way, letting me breathe. My face was flushed and my breathing was hitched.

"Kami, I missed that." I said. He smiled and grabbed something out from his side of my bed. I narrowed my eyes, trying to see what it was since my room was pretty dark … which reminds me, how did he see my blush? 'He probably didn't see it!' I thought glaring, but it quickly went away when I saw a small box in his hand.

"Itachi …" I began, but he stopped me with a finger to my lips. He smiled.

:"I love you Mika and I don't want to lose you again. Will you marry me?" I was stunned. He found me only a few hours ago and he was already asking to marry me? I loved him and I knew he loved me and didn't want the chance of me leaving again. I smiled.

"Yes." He grabbed my left hand and put the ring on my figure. I looked at it and then hugged him. I had to admit that we were probably being a little fast about things, but we knew we loved each other and that we didn't want to be away from each other anymore, so I didn't see a problem with it.

Itachi hugged me back and then pulled me down with him as he lied down on his side. He wrapped his arm around me and I put my head in his chest, listening to his heartbeat. It was still beating a little fast, but so was mine. That was one hell of a kiss and one hell of a question that I wasn't expecting so soon. But I wasn't complaining at all!

"What took you so long to find me?" I asked looking up at him, he sighed.

"Your Mizukage is hard to get details from. She wouldn't tell me at first, but after a while, she told be a general direction of where you were and I spent a year looking." My eyes widened. 'A year …' I smiled and kissed him again.

"I am sorry for everything."

"Me too." I said yawning. He laughed.

"Go to sleep, I will be here when you wake."

"I love you … and thank you … for everything." I said feeling sleep come my way. I saw him smile at me and I smiled back. It was nice to have him back again. To be able to sleep next to him, to be held by him, and to be able to lean on him knowing that he loved me still. I had a good feeling about this and I was willing to forgive him and to trust him again … he deserved it and I deserved him. It's a good mix, him and I. He kissed my forehead.

"Sleep." I sighed and nodded. I put my head in his chest again and listened to the steady beat of his heart. It was soothing and I knew I was going to get a good night sleep tonight because I had the one I loved with me again and he was staying with me. He came and found me even thought I told him not to and he still loved me even though I told him to move on. I, for once, was glad that he didn't listen to me and found me. I hadn't realized how much I missed him until I saw his face. He had grown up, but then again, it had been two years and he was twenty and I was eighteen. He still had his long, black hair in a ponytail. He had the same two lines on his eyes, and he was still slim, but he looked … wiser for some reason. I didn't mind though, he was still hot, nice, caring, and would be there for me for the rest of my life and I was happy. I was finally happier than I had ever been since the massacre.

I thought I would be an avenger, killing the people who killed my clan, but I wasn't. I was … I was just me. Mika and I would be that way as long as Itachi was with me. I felt my heart slow as I neared falling asleep, and I fell asleep soon after. I fell asleep with Itachi whispering three words to me.

"I love you." I fell asleep with a smile on my face … for the first time in over two years and I knew I would be with Itachi for the rest of my life, happy.

'_Cause, I love you  
I want you to know  
That I, I love you  
I will never let you go_

**A/N: **Yeah, yeah, I know they engaged a little fast, but hey they are in love! ^-^ I hope it was okay! The last lyrics are also from By Your Side. Umm … yeah, I hope you all liked my story and that it was okay! Thank you all for reading and reviewing, I love you all! ^-^ It's sad to see this story end, but I am happy too. I finished another story and before school starts! Yay! I hope you guys liked the ending … it's a happy ending too! I like happy endings … so much better than tragedies … I hate those, they are so sad and I am really into a story too and then someone leaves or dies and I am like 'What? No! ' And then I cry and I feel weird for crying for a fanfiction story! But there are a lot of great writers on here and I hope to be one of them someday! I hope you all enjoyed it! Ja ne!


End file.
